The Floor of Heaven

 

 

Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is poised between two Empires – The Sceptered Isle and La Serenissima. In honor of the 400^th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare and the 500^th anniversary of the birth of the Venetian ghetto, The Floor of Heaven interweaves moments from Shakespeare's complex and revolutionary text with the play's original music and songs from the Venetian soundscape that Shakespeare's characters would have played and heard.   

 

Soprano Jessica Gould, Countertenor Nicholas Tamagna, and lutenist Christopher Morrongiello, educated at Oxford and the Royal Academy of Music, collaborate with a cast of actors, directors Erica Gould and Deborah Houston to create a dynamic reflection on Shylock's Venice.