Article posted: 7/20/2012 6:00 AM

First Folio reveals 'Merchant's' humor, dark heart

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Shylock (Michael Goldberg, standing center) prepares to exact payment from the merchant Antonio (Michael Joseph Mitchell, kneeling center) to the horror of best friend Bassanio (Kevin McKillip, right) and a disguised Portia (Melanie Keller, left) in First Folio Theatre's production of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice."

The contempt moneylender Shylock (Michael Goldberg, right) bears for Bassanio (Kevin McKillip, left) and Antonio (Michael Joseph Mitchell, center) doesn't prevent him from agreeing to a business proposition in "The Merchant of Venice" directed by First Folio Theatre artistic director Alison C. Vesely.

Bassanio (Kevin McKillip, right) prepares to choose the casket that could win him the hand of Portia (Melanie Keller, second from right) in marriage while Gratiano (Kris Reilly, left) and Portia's lady-in-waiting Nerissa (Hayley L. Rice) look on in First Folio Theatre's "The Merchant of Venice."

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First Folio Theatre tackles "The Merchant of Venice" - one of Shakespeare's most problematic plays - with a healthy dose of comedy.