"ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD": REFLECTIONS ON JAVOR GARDEV'S PRODUCTION OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S "THE MERCHANT OF VENICE" AT THE BULGARIAN NATIONAL THEATRE
Vol.10, Issue 2, 2024, pp. 309-325 Full text
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.24.2.6
Web of Science: 001379776600008
Author:
Georgi Niagolov https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9497-0451
Affiliation: New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria 002qhr126
Abstract
The article reviews Javor Gardev's recent production of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice on the stage of the Bulgarian National Theatre in the context of the play's long debated generic ambiguity and the "unpleasant" issues it confronts. It argues that even though, due to good historical reasons, the issue of antisemitism has attracted most of the attention so far, the central "unpleasant" issue in the original text is patriarchalism and the inequality between men and women. The play and the production's divergent treatments of this issue are considered in the context of today's antifeminist backlash, as well as the more general tendency to withdraw from traditional Western values, such as democracy, freedom, human rights. The current global and locally Bulgarian perspectives are discussed in order to demonstrate the urgency of taking a clear stand in support of these values.
Keywords: English literature, drama, Shakespeare, theatre, politics, culture, Bulgaria
Article history:
Submitted: 2024
Reviewed: 18 September 2024
Accepted: 16 October 2024
Published: 22 December 2024
Citation (APA):
Niagolov, G. (2024). "All That Glitters is Not Gold": Reflections on Javor Gardev's Production of William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" at the Bulgarian National Theatre. English Studies at NBU, 10(2), 310-326. https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.24.2.6
Copyright © 2024 Georgi Niagolov
This open access article is published and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. If you want to use the work commercially, you must first get the authors' permission.
Funding:
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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Review:
1. Reviewer's name: Name undisclosed
Review Content: Undisclosed
Review Verified on Publons
2. Reviewer's name: Name Undisclosed
Review Content: Undisclosed
Review Verified on Publons
Handling Editor: Boris Naimushin, New Bulgarian University
Verified Editor Record on Publons