{"id":88813,"date":"2026-05-07T16:21:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T23:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=88813"},"modified":"2026-05-07T16:26:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T23:26:00","slug":"theater-news-tea-with-shakespeare-the-merchant-of-venice-delights-at-historic-long-beach-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/do\/theater-news-tea-with-shakespeare-the-merchant-of-venice-delights-at-historic-long-beach-house","title":{"rendered":"Theater News: ‘Tea with Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice’ delights at historic Long Beach house"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Perhaps the only thing that could make a Shakespeare play better is staging it in a historic Long Beach house with full tea service and, yes, maybe shortening some parts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s exactly what actor and director Michael Taber does in \u201cTea with Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice\u201d at the Historic Bembridge House in Long Beach, with three remaining shows scheduled through Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bembridge House<\/a> is a Queen Anne-style Victorian home that\u2019s been preserved for 120 years. Taber\u2019s abridged version of the play unfolds with the first act in the house\u2019s front garden, the second inside its drawing room and the third in its backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThroughout the piece, the audience will have a sense of being part of the story,\u201d Taber said in a Stage Explorations<\/a> interview, adding that a courtroom scene involving Jewish merchant Shylock is especially intimate staged inside the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like they\u2019re actually there in the court with these characters,\u201d Taber said of the audience. \u201cThey\u2019re immersed there. They will be experiencing the live people as the characters right in front of and around them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Taber said he was inspired to create \u201cTea with Shakespeare\u201d after experiencing an event at the Bembridge last fall. And since Shakespeare, tea and Victorian are all associated with England, he thought they\u2019d make a great blend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the house is not as old as Shakespeare\u2019s play, it still takes audiences to a different time, Taber said. And \u201cThe Merchant of Venice\u201d also features a place called Belmont, like Belmont Shores in Long Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having experienced the event last Saturday, I can say that Taber\u2019s vision has blossomed beautifully. The tea experience is lovely, and the play is delightfully performed, with the historic house adding a transporting dimension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audience members first sit at pretty tables on the house\u2019s front lawn for tea service by Mimi Masher, including scones, clotted cream, lemon curd and jam, with a choice of teas served in pots and poured into dainty cups with a strainer, plus finger sandwiches and desserts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And lest you forget, you\u2019re there for Shakespeare, Elizabethan music plays and a couple of characters come out to greet guests, heralding the play. They and all the other actors are amazing \u2014 expressive, clear and immersed in their roles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Set of “Tea with Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice” at the Historic Bembridge House. Photo by Anita W. Harris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cassie Korrie makes an elegant Portia, a Belmont heiress (her beauty framed by the house\u2019s front porch), with Emily Jerez terrific as her bold lady-in-waiting Nerissa. They have fun listing all the ways Portia\u2019s countless suitors are just plain wrong for her \u2014 until she meets Bassanio, a Venetian gentleman played by Taber himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their romance is verified by Bassanio choosing the correct box out of three that best reflects Portia\u2019s soul, solidified with a ring and consummated for one night before Bassanio has to go to Venice to help his merchant friend Antonio (a sympathetic Andrew Laughery) and pirate-like companion Solanio (an animated Nate McFadden) when all Antonio\u2019s cargo ships sink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antonio is now indebted to Jewish moneylender Shylock, excellently played by Charles Massaro, who brings a depth and conviction to his character that adds weight when he contends that Christians and Jews are the same (\u201cIf you prick us, do we not bleed?\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the second act, seated around the Bembridge\u2019s stately wood-paneled drawing room, the audience is immersed in a courtroom scene presided by Duke Salerio (a dignified Aaron Pelt) as Shylock demands a pound of flesh from Antonio as compensation, Bassanio by his side. But little do they know that Portia is there, too, disguised as a male lawyer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a woman in love, not only was Portia willing to give her fortune to pay off the debts of her new husband\u2019s best friend, she\u2019s also willing to use her genius to save him in court, reading Venetian law to turn the tables on Shylock in a major way, and really underscoring the racism inherent in the text that was prevalent at the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though today\u2019s audience feels for the shamed and broken Shylock (especially as so well embodied by Massaro), the third act brings a happy reunion in the Bembridge\u2019s backyard as Bassanio and Antonio return to Belmont, except \u2014 ruh-roh! \u2014 Bassanio handed over the ring Portia gave him to a certain lawyer back in Venice\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTea with Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice\u201d is a true delight. With only three shows left, one only hopes Taber can add performances or perhaps develop future \u201cTea with Shakespeare\u201d events at the Bembridge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taber said about this unique experience, \u201cI\u2019m just excited to share this story and share my love for the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTea with Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice\u201d continues through May 9 at the Historic Bembridge House, 935 N. Park Circle, Long Beach, with shows Thursday, May 7 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 9 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. For tickets, visit <\/em>TheBembridgeHouse.org\/events<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s your chance to see Shakespeare in a Queen Anne-style Victorian home that\u2019s been preserved for 120 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":88815,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"Here's your chance to see Shakespeare in a Queen Anne-style Victorian home that\u2019s been preserved for 120 years.","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32367],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-88813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-do","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88813"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88818,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88813\/revisions\/88818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88813"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=88813"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=88813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}