Wednesday, December 3 at 5PM

Virtually on Zoom and In-Person at the New York Classical Theatre offices

The Merchant of Venice

Law, Lies, and Love: Rehearsing the Contradictions

Presented by Dr. Sophia Murashkovsky Romma: distinguished scholar, theatre/film director, playwright, and international human rights attorney.

The play that asks: Is a pound of flesh legally binding?

Join scholar and dramaturg Dr. Sophia Murashkovsky Romma as we turn the stage into a rehearsal hall and a courtroom to unveil the theatrical tension of The Merchant of Venice.

We shall place Portia, Shylock, and Antonio "in character" for high-stakes interviews, and then subject Act IV to a Mock Trial, testing the ethical limits of the law. Explore the chilling contradictions of Justice versus Mercy that persistently disturb audiences, even today.

Don’t just read the drama—be the jury!

Claim your spot!

Registration:

Dr. Sophia Murashkovsky Romma is a distinguished scholar, theatre/film director, playwright, and international human rights attorney.

Her unique expertise lies in the powerful intersection of classical theatre, the Absurdist Movement, and the judicial manipulation of power in dramatic texts. Dr. Romma holds an impressive academic portfolio, including a Master of Laws degree from Fordham University Law, specializing in International Human Rights and Justice, and bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She earned her Ph.D. in Theatre and Philology from the legendary Maxim Gorky Literature Institute.

An award-winning playwright, Dr. Romma has had fourteen of her original works produced on the Off-Broadway and Broadway circuits. Her directorial and scholarly research is specifically focused on how dramatic structures—particularly those in early modern drama—reflect and challenge legal and ethical systems. Her blend of practice and scholarship offers a compelling, real-world lens through which to view the classics.

Previous Vino & Verse Events

Shakespeare’s Original Practices
Wednesday, October 8, 2025

How did Shakespeare’s actors bring his plays to life without directors, lighting designers, or weeks of rehearsal? In this session, we’ll explore Shakespeare’s original practices—from cue scripts and costumes to fast-paced rehearsal processes and shared light with the audience—and how these practices gave performances immediacy, spontaneity, and deep connection.

Led by: Sid Ray, PhD, Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies, Pace University

Dr. Ray’s research focuses on Shakespeare and early modern drama, dramaturgy, and performance. She has written extensively on Shakespeare, Marlowe, Webster, and early modern women writers, and is a dramaturg, text coach, and longtime Board Member of New York Classical Theatre.

Othello
Thursday, November 6, 2025

In modern America, Othello's race is a fact--he is a Black man. But, in early modern England, Othello's race was a question.

Somewhere, across centuries and across an ocean, Richard Burbage gave way to James Earl Jones and Laurence Olivier ceded the stage to Denzel Washington, and our modern world provided a simple answer to a complex series of questions surrounding the race of the valiant Moor. 

Using the text of William Shakespeare's Othello; the history and performance of blackness in early modern England; and the shifting social, political, and cultural contexts as jumping off points, this evening of Vino and Verse invites the audience to re-open the questions surrounding Othello's race, and explore who, what, when, and where made Othello into the man we know him as today. 

Led by: Matthieu Chapman, NY Classical Literary Director & Associate Professor and Head of Theatre Studies at SUNY New Paltz

Matthieu Chapman directs New York Classical Theatre’s New Visions play development program and serves as Associate Professor and Head of Theatre Studies at SUNY New Paltz. He holds an MLit in Dramaturgy and an MFA in Acting from Mary Baldwin College’s Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance Program, and a Ph.D. in Theatre History, Theory, and Criticism from UC San Diego. A scholar, dramaturg, director, and actor, his work explores Blackness in the Early Modern world and contemporary performance. He is the author of Antiblack Racism in Early Modern English Drama: The Other Other (Routledge, 2017) and the memoir Shattered: Fragments of a Black Life (WVU Press, 2023), and co-editor of Teaching Race in the Early Modern World: A Classroom Guide (ACMRS Press, 2023). His essays appear in leading journals such as Shakespeare, Theatre Topics, and Early Theatre, and he has presented internationally on topics including Contemporary Black Theatre and cross-cultural adaptations of Shakespeare.

 
 
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