Hollywood actor Al Pacino has signed on to play the title character in a new film adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear. Variety.com said Michael Radford wrote the script for and plans to direct the movie.

By Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News, Maine Jul. 30--What makes William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" a problem play is not the plot, the dialogue or the story structure. It's the fact that society has changed in the 400-some years since the Bard wrote it.

By ERIC FEBER By Eric Feber The Virginian-Pilot Aspiring actors of all ages are invited to audition for Tidewater Community College's summer production of "The Merchant of Venice," considered by many as Shakespeare's darkest and most performed comedy.

By Carol Biliczky, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio Jun. 9--When Bil Pfuderer wasn't waiting outside for a ride to church on Sunday, the friend became alarmed. After pounding on the door and finding it unlocked, she found the news was as bad as it could get.

VENICE, Italy - Al Pacino growls, grimaces and demands a "pound of flesh" as Jewish moneylender Shylock in a new version of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice." But the actor argued Saturday that the film successfully addresses long-standing controversy over the work's anti-Semitism.