Periodically when you’re talking about Arab Shakespeare appropriation some mischievous soul will ask: “So, what do they do with The Merchant of Venice?” It’s a good (if not nice) question. Now we can refer it to Mark Bayer’s article in the current issue of Comparative Drama:

Mark Bayer, “The Merchant of Venice, the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and the Perils of Shakespearean Appropriation,” Comparative Drama Volume 41 (Winter 2007-08 ), No. 4. See Project Muse for PDF and HTML.

Haven’t read it yet, but Bayer’s SAA paper on the same topic (2006) was interesting.

The Arab League translation of MV (nice cover art, folks):