Inside the play confronting antisemitism on a New York stage

For actor Saul Rubinek, the stage has always been a place to connect and to challenge. Now, in his latest role, he’s doing both.

Rubinek stars in “Playing Shylock,” a new play making its New York premiere at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center, home of Theatre for a New Audience in Fort Greene.

Written by Mark Leiren-Young and directed by Martin Kinch, the production follows a version of Rubinek himself, who addresses an audience after a performance of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is canceled mid-show amid public outcry over antisemitism.

“This play? This play with what’s happening in the city right now, where you can’t go into a synagogue without passing armed guards, the real danger of well-being is Merchant of Venice, oh, oh okay,” Rubinek says during the play, addressing the a