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OTHELLO

OTHELLO. SHAKESPEARE SCRIPT, STAGE AND SCREEN by Bevington , Welsh and Greenwald. OTHELLO is unique among Shakespeare’s later plays as essentially a domestic tragedy. First recorded performance was November 1604

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OTHELLO

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  1. OTHELLO SHAKESPEARE SCRIPT, STAGE AND SCREENby Bevington, Welsh and Greenwald

  2. OTHELLO is unique among Shakespeare’s later plays as essentially a domestic tragedy First recorded performance was November 1604 Commentators criticize plot for Shakespeare’s use of time (When do Desdemona and Cassio have time to cuckold Othello?) Unique among his tragedies as Iago dominates the play in terms of lines...only Hamletand Henry V have more lines in the canon

  3. Sources Cinthio’s HECATOMMITHI

  4. Influence from Morality Plays I look down towards his feet; but that’s a fableIf thou be’st a devil, I cannot kill thee. (5.2.294-5) In these lines Othello searches Iago’s feet to see if they are cloven like the devil Medieval moralities often personify Good and Evil as the conscience, an attribute of Iago’s character Edwin Booth as Iago

  5. It features stock Roman characters TommasoSalvini as Othello Othello, the braggart warrior Desdemona, inamorata Iago, the trickster Brabantio, the suspicious father Cassio, inamorato Emilia, sassy servant

  6. LANGUAGE & MUSIC Strong initial contrast between Othello (verse) and Iago (prose)

  7. Othello’s language erodes as play progresses (1.3.166-167) contrasts with (4.1.35-43) Imagery includes contrast of light with darkness and the human and the bestial Iagois a chameleon, suiting the language to the action Shakespeare employs song and music to evoke atmosphere

  8. THEMES AND IDEAS The Moorish ambassadorto the English court 1601, sought an alliance againstSpain. This is a play about reason, passion and the green-eyed monster The Machiavellanmind is explored “The other” To the Elizabethan, “a Turk” was the cruellest of insults Women are most victimized in the play, yet Emilia’s speech (4.3.87-106) rivals Shylocks “What is a Jew?”

  9. STAGING CHALLENGES Modern audiences are conditioned to expect a Black Othello As late as 1980s White English actors still played Othello

  10. Paul Robeson as Othello

  11. James Earl Jones as Othello Christopher Plummer as Iago

  12. Olivier as OTHELLO Frank Finlay as IAGO

  13. In 1997, Patrick Stewart played Othello as a white man with a black man as Iago

  14. THE DEATH SCENE If played sloppily, it comes off comic and not tragic...most especially since Desdemona is killed, then almost 40 lines later, recovers long enough to absolve Othello

  15. OTHELLO ON STAGE Richard Burbage was the first Othello to John Lowin’sIago The play seems particularly suited to the Globe and Blackfriars It may have been the first restoration production with a female actor playing the role of Desdemona Among the first of Shakespeare’s plays to be performed in the American colonies. In 1752, the governor of Virginia had it played for the chief of the Iroquois nation

  16. David Garrick failed as Othello but triumphed as Iago The most admired Othello of mid-19th century was Italian TommasoSalvini. His major rival was American Edwin Booth who was more successful as Iago. In fact, he was described as the supreme Iagoof his age.

  17. Stanislavski as Othello

  18. Paul Robeson (1930) changed perceptions of Othello “forever” Production revived in NY (1943) with Uta Hagen & Jose Ferrer William Marshall, background in opera and James Earl Jones also excelled in the role. Jones played opposite Christopher Plummer at Stratford, Ontario in 1981, a production that transferred to NYC

  19. Controversial performances include Ben Kingsley and David Suchet directed by Terry Hands at the RSC in 1985

  20. Othello on Film and TV 1906 - Portions of the play appeared on film 1922 – German production of a silent film starring Werner Krauss as Iagoand Emil Jannings as Othello. It is the first silent Shakespeare movie to be sold to the general public. 1952-Director Orson Welles filmed in Venice, Tuscany, Morocco 1955-Boris Pasternak adaptation into Russian 1965-Stuart Burge filmed the National Theatre production starringLaurenceOlivier and Maggie Smith, directed by John Dexter

  21. Emil Jannings as OTHELLO (1922)

  22. International films 1980-Liz White filmed a feminist Canadien production with YaphetKotto, Richard Dixon (Iago) and Audrey Dixon (Desdemona) 1981-Elijah Mohinsky’s BBC Television Production originally planned for James Earl Jones...He was replaced by Anthony Hopkins opposite Bob Hoskins as Iago 1988-Janet Suzman directed a South African production with John Kanifor Johannesburg’s Market Theatre

  23. Recent productions 1990-RSC production directed by Trevor Nunn with Willard White as Othello, Ian McKellan as Iago and Imogen Stubbs as Desdemona 1995-Oliver Parker directed Laurence Fishburne and Kenneth Branagh, the text is edited to accommodate Fishburne

  24. Adaptations Verdi’s opera Otello (1887)was famously filmed byFranco Zeffirelli starringPlacido Domingo in 1968

  25. Catch My Soul, a rock opera played London in 1970 Was covered several times in the US and elsewhere including a film starring Richie Havens.

  26. “O” (2000) was written and directed by Tim Blake Smith

  27. British TV “Othello” updates action to Scotland Yard today with Eamonn Walker in the title role.

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