Celebrate Shakespeare's 450th birthday at Fort Canning Park, Singapore

In conjunction with Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) is bringing back Shakespeare in the Park for another magical night under the stars with the iconic play “The Merchant of Venice”.

A record 30,000 people watched last year’s production of Othello, and based on ticket sales to date, the Merchant of Venice is expected to exceed that figure.

“The production this year is going to be stunning and we are expecting at least the same number as last year which includes over 10,000 students. Some student groups are even travelling to see our production from Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia,” said Executive Director of SRT, Charlotte Nors.

The performance features Shakespeare’s most sympathetic villain Shylock, and the quick-witted Portia in their pursuit of justice and mercy.

“Our production is set in a modern day environment with the financial markets as the backdrop. Wonderful new music by Singapore’s Ruth Lin, amazing movement direction by one of the world’s most sought after movement directors, Scott Graham from Frantic Assembly in London and an amazing cast all helmed by director Bruce Guthrie. Relevant, fast-paced, fun, thought-provoking – it simply has all the right elements for a wonderful evening out,” she said.

Now in its seventh year, SRT’s Shakespeare in the Park is one of the most anticipated events in Singapore’s cultural calendar, with other Shakespeare plays performed under the starry night sky such as Othello, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing.

“As a student, I didn’t understand the language Shakespeare used. It was only after I saw my first professional production done well that I began to appreciate why his plays are still performed 400 years later. SRT’s goal is to help everyone in Singapore have that same epiphany. The Merchant Of Venice was not written to be a boring school text book. It was written to be performed,” said artistic director of SRT, Gaurav Kripalani,

This year’s production is directed by Bruce Gutherie who directed two other Shakespeare in the Park productions, Twelfth Night (2012) and last year's Othello

“SRT stays true to the language written by Shakespeare but we always set the play in a context that will resonate the most with our audience. The Merchant Of Venice will take place in a modern financial metropolis, where greed, prejudice, racism, revenge, and of course, love, remain themes that are as potent today as they were when the play was first written,” said Guarav.

“We want theatre of the highest quality to be accessible to people from all walks of life and looking at the crowd every night I think we have achieved that," adds Charlotte.

Not only can you picnic under the stars, SRT is also offering several educational initiatives to deepen student and teacher’s understanding of Shakespeare, including master classes conducted by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The Merchant of Venice will be performed from April 30 till May 25 at Fort Cannings Green, Singapore with special student nights on Fridays. The gate opens at 6.30pm so get there early to reserve your picnic area. Performance starts at 7.30pm.