Saul Rubinek Returns to the Stage in PLAYING SHYLOCK

At the Berkeley Street Theatre in October, Canadian Stage will present a cultural icon making his triumphant return to the theatre, when stage and screen actor Saul Rubinek takes on a tour-de-force role in the World Premiere of PLAYING SHYLOCK.  
 
Running October 26th to November 17th (Media night: October 30th), PLAYING SHYLOCK is a new work derived from Vancouver playwright Mark Leiren-Young’s SHYLOCK, produced in 1996, and will be directed by another icon of the Canadian theatre landscape, Martin Kinch.
 
In PLAYING SHYLOCK, a production of The Merchant of Venice is cancelled mid-performance after public outcries about the play. The actor playing Shylock delivers a candid and passionate appeal about identity, public discourse, and the theatre.
 
“At a time when we are re-assessing our relationship to many classical texts, this play offers a nuanced exploration of the role of art in society,” says Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy. “We are particularly thrilled to welcome the remarkable Saul Rubinek to our stage as well as director Martin Kinch, both of whom played foundational roles in the life of Canadian Stage itself.”
 
A beloved acting veteran, Rubinek, (Wall Street, Unforgiven, Barney's Version, The Family Man, Frasier) began his illustrious career in Ontario, just eight years old when he began performing on stage. He appeared at the Stratford Festival in the 1968-1969 season, at the time the youngest member of the company, and, in 1972 was a key artist in the very first season of the brand-new Toronto Free Theatre, which would later merge with CentreStage to become Canadian Stage. From these early beginnings, Rubinek went on to build a film and television career spanning over four decades.  His impressive credits include the Cohen Brothers The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven,and Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance.  On television, Rubinek has appeared on Frasier, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and the recent Amazon series Hunters lead by Al Pacino. Notably, Rubinek’s ties to the theatre began at birth: he was born in a refugee camp in Germany after WWII, where his father ran a Yiddish repertory theatre company.
 
Rubinek last appeared on stage in a play written by Ethan Cohen, A Play is a Poem, in 2019 at the Los Angeles Mark Taper Forum.  The production was to have transferred to NY but was cancelled due to the pandemic. He last appeared in Toronto (at The Glenn Gould Studio) in 2008 in music-theatre piece Through Roses, as part of a music program produced by the Royal Conservatory, Music in Exile, Émigré Composers of the 1930s. 
 
A Canadian theatre forefather in his own right, Martin Kinch has long been at the vanguard of modern Canadian theatrical expression. A key part of the movement to develop original Canadian plays in the early 1970s, as artistic director of Theatre Passe Muraille and founder and artistic director of Toronto Free Theatre, he spearheaded the creation of alternative theatres in Canada.  As a playwright, he is a two-time finalist for the prestigious Chalmers Award. During his 10-year tenure (2002-12) at Vancouver’s Playwright’s Theatre Centre, Martin built the organization into a trailblazing dramaturgically focused company that nurtures and advances Canadian playwrights. 
 
For PLAYING SHYLOCK, Kinch is joined on the creative team by set and Costume Designer Shawn Kerwin, lighting designer Steve Hawkins, and sound designer Olivia Wheeler.
 
PLAYING SHYLOCK runs October 26th through November 17th at the Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley Street). Performances take place Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00pm with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm.  Tickets are available beginning at $29 at canadianstage.com

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