A one-night only reading of Shakespeare's perpetually controversial The Merchant of Venice featuring commentary from premiere West Coast Shakespeare scholar Denise Battista. Following will be an audience discussion led by a panel of writers and artists including world-renowned Jewish-American author and fantasist Peter S. Beagle and John Fisher, Artistic Director of Theater Rhinoceros, San Francisco's oldest queer theater company. Performed by: Nathan Tucker (Shylock), Kendra Arimoto (Portia), Stuart Bousel (Bassanio), Christopher P. Kelly (Antonio), Shaun Landry (Nerissa), Lisa Swanson (Jessica), Tony Sommers (Lorenzo), David Bicha (Gratiano), Carl Lucania (Salanio), Rik Lopes (Salarino), Jason Wong (Prince of Morocco), Sean Fenton (Prince of Aragon), Brian Olkowski (Tubal), Chris Struett (Launcelot) and Ryan Hayes (Narrator).