Gayina’s Pound of Flesh: George Quaye’s new play explores religious intolerance in Ghana

Ghanaian playwright and director George Quaye is set to premiere Gayina’s Pound of Flesh, an original African adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, at the National Theatre this August.

Although the production has been described as the first original African adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, George insists the play is not really about Shakespeare.

The story is inspired by Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, in which the moneylender Shylock lends money to the merchant Antonio on the condition that, should he default, Shylock may take a pound of Antonio’s flesh.