[Tabori's production of The Merchant of Venice] is billed as "improvisations" on the Shakespeare, and as a title it uses a snatch of Shakespeare's dialogue: "I wish my daughter lay dead in the street and wore the jewels in her ears."

This response by the shattered Shylock to fate's abuse encapsules Tabori's approach to the play. Shakespeare tortures Shylock without making him tragic. The "Jew" is stripped not merely of the money, the land, and the rights that are his. His daughter abandons him to marry a Gentile; he is forced to convert to Christianity. This excess of revenge is silly, and Tabori capitalizes on Shakespeare's absurd hatred.

The "improvisations" make Shylock the central character, which Shakespeare didn't intend but couldn't help suggesting. For Shakespeare, Shylock was a grotesque whose implications the playwright finally noticed, but hadn't the patience or sensibility to explore. Indeed, at one point Tabori...