SOURCE: Mahon, John W. “Richard Olivier Directs The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare Newsletter 48, no. 2 (summer 1998): 43.

In the following review of Richard Olivier's 1998 production of The Merchant of Venice, Mahon comments on the director's “colorblind” casting, decision to make Portia the play's central figure, and efforts to recreate a historically authentic theater-going experience at the New Globe.

The son of Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright, Richard Olivier has worked in the theatre for some years, both in England and in the United States. He directed Henry V at Shakespeare's Globe last summer. He has published several books, including the memoir Shadow of the Stone Heart: A Search for Manhood. During a conversation with me in his London home on 15 June, Olivier reflected on his approach to directing Merchant at the New Globe on Bankside this summer. His remote preparation for the assignment began much earlier and included a trip...