William Shakespeare - O Mercador de Veneza

One of the great classics of world literature about how (almost) anything goes in business and love.

In the great mercantile republic of Venice, Antonio, the anti-Semitic merchant, yields to the strange terms of a loan from the Jew Shylock to help Bassanio, his young friend, win over Portia, a very wealthy heiress. Unable to meet the agreed conditions, Antonio is forced to pay by handing over to Shylock half a pound of his own flesh, meticulously weighed. However, Portia disguises herself as a lawyer and defends Antonio in court.

The ambiguous tone of Shakespeare's text allows the reader (or actor) to decide whether to interpret the Jew Shylock as a villain or as a victim; The alternation between anti-Semitic viewpoints and moral discourses, as well as Portia's talent for legal defense (disguised as a man), are all elements of extraordinary modernity that make this Shakespearean comedy one of his most remarkable texts, justifying the fact that it is one of the bard's most frequently staged plays, on the big screen or on the radio.