Meet Andi!

I am so pleased to welcome Andi Dema back to the ADK Shakes family. We were incredibly fortunate to have had Andi with us this summer, his first foray into Shakespeare IN THE RAW. And now, he has joined our ranks of RAW Veterans.

This winter Andi is reprising his role from the summer: the incomparable Shylock. I've seen The Merchant of Venice a few times, and I have honestly never seen an interpretation of this character like Andi's. While Andi is sensitive to the few sympathetic moments that Shylock exhibits, he fearlessly takes on the more terrifying aspects of this man. A man filled with pain, with hatred, with a desire for vengeance. You may have loved Al Pacino's Shylock, but I think Andi's Shylock is much more nuanced, more strongly based in Shakespeare's text, and an absolutely bold performance.

Welcome back, Andi!

ANDI DEMA
(MERCHANT: Shylock; MEASURE: 1st Gentleman, Froth, Barnardine, Varrius)

Andi Dema

ADK Shakes: A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Theseus and the Minotaur.

Andi Dema is an Albanian actor who is working with the Adirondack Shakespeare Company for the second time in his career. Favorite roles include Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Adirondack Shakespeare Company; Orlando in As You Like It and Clitandre in The Learned Ladies with the Texas Shakespeare Festival; Cassius in Julius Caesar and Joey Percival in Misalliance with Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park; Jack Tanner in Man and Superman and Capt. Jack Absolute in The Rivals with Theatre OCU. Mr. Dema holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Oklahoma City University.