Local News

South Florida Poet Rewrites Merchants of Venice: A New All-Black Shakespearean Adaptation with a Historical South-Florida Twist

     Shakespeare and South Florida Poetry have created a love child…and it’s beautiful. Black Author, Poet, and Playwright Darius Daughtry’s Merchants of Venice is a smorgasbord of artistic genius that needs to be experienced and seen by every member of the community, especially in black and brown households and communities of color. Merchants of Venice takes William Shakespeare’s traditional Merchant of Venice, but with a modern-contemporary twist that highlights parts of our Fort Lauderdale history as it pertains to racial inequality and economic disparity. Performed by an All-Black Cast of local South Florida actors, and Written and Directed by Darius Daughtry—Merchants of Venice takes us on a journey through deeply rooted issues such as racism, the moral price of debt, communal collaboration, and socioeconomic disparities. […]