Playing Shylock

 Playing Shylock
Polonsky Shakespeare Center
November 29, 2025

Photo courtesy of Playing Shylock

Saul Rubinek’s one-person show, Playing Shylock, is inspiring and pertinent.  He closely collaborates with writer Mark Leiren-Young and director Martin Kinch to create this unique performance.  Mr. Rubinek tells personal stories of his family and how he longs to play Shakespeare’s character, Shylock, a role his father dreamed of playing, but never did.  The piece addresses antisemitism, the identity of Jewish actors in the profession, and the art of creating performances that are both timely and timeless.

It is intermission during a production of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.  The second act is about to begin, but the curtain is held due to technical difficulties.  The actor playing Shylock enters.  He is Saul Rubineck, and he addresses the audience as himself, not Shylock, to explain the delay.  Protests outside the theater over this controversial play have created concerns from the show’s backers.  The cast received notice during the intermission that this will be the final performance, so Saul decided to cancel the second act.  He is appalled that in 2025 fear could cause their work to be censored.  He speaks directly about his goals in portraying Shylock, the history of Shakespeare’s work, and how infrequently the role has been played by a Jewish actor.

Saul Rubinek
Photo courtesy of Playing Shylock

Mr. Rubinek connects to the audience on a personal level, sharing tender and sacred moments from his life.  He reveals that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors.  He tells about how they were hidden in a farmhouse for two years during the war.  He shares the story of how his grandfather was infuriated when his father told him he wanted to be an actor.  He speaks of his Jewish identity, which he knows he cannot separate from.  He speaks candidly and is fully himself.  He states that “the theatre is not a safe space,” which allows the audience to be vulnerable with him.  They open their own self- awareness as they engage with him on his journey through frustration to revelation.  

The highlights of the piece are the three sections where Mr. Rubinek performs Shylock's monologues from The Merchant of Venice.  They are focused and intense.  He instantly drops into them, transporting himself to a different time and location.  His physicality and vocal timbre shift.  His final monologue is performed in Yiddish.  It is a bold choice that makes a powerful statement.  It is truly riveting. 

Playing Shylock is running at The Polonsky Shakespeare Center in downtown Brooklyn through December 7.  It is a timely and intimate piece of theatre. 

Domenick Danza