POCKET MERCHANT Announced As 2013 Propeller Production

Propeller's Artistic Director Edward Hall has today announced Pocket Merchant as this year's Pocket Propeller production.

Pocket Merchant, a 60-minute version of The Merchant of Venice, will be based on Propeller's acclaimed 2008/09 production. Set in a prison called Venice, the environment brings out the more radical tendencies in human nature, and which is fertile ground for the ferocious intolerance that Shakespeare examines in this controversial play.

Pocket Merchant is the fourth production in the Pocket Propeller series, following Pocket Dream, Pocket Comedy and Pocket Henry V.

Pocket Propeller is the ideal introduction not only to Shakespeare, but also to the thrill and excitement of theatre. It aims to deliver a first class theatrical experience in a compact but uncompromised 60 minutes. The ensemble creates a relaxed and engaging atmosphere in which to enjoy the performance, as well encouraging the audience to give a frank and uninhibited response in an open talkback session afterwards.

Meanwhile, the national tour of Propeller's hugely successful productions of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and The Taming of The Shrew continues.

Propeller's productions of Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew, both directed by Edward Hall, each premiered in 2006/7, and have been touring internationally since autumn 2012.

Propeller's 2012/13 tour sees them continue to work with The Touring Partnership, this year with the addition of a new venue - The Theatre Royal, Nottingham.

For more information on Pocket Propeller, and the touring productions of Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew, visit www.propeller.org.uk