Michael Kahn, artistic director, Shakespeare Theatre Company, in conversation with Eric Denker, lecturer, National Gallery of Art, and Faya Causey, head of the department of academic programs, National Gallery of Art. Although he never traveled to Italy, William Shakespeare set many of his plays there. In this lecture Michael Kahn discusses many of Shakespeare's plays set in Italy, concentrating on The Merchant of Venice, which opened at the Harman Center for the Arts on June 21, 2011. This program, recorded on May 22, 2011, was organized in conjunction with the Gallery's exhibition Venice: Canaletto and His Rivals, on view from February 20, 2011, to May 30, 2011.