William Shakespeare's Othello Presentation for ENGL 428

Sources Cited

F.E Halliday, A Shakespeare Companion 1564-1964, Baltimore:

Penguin, 1964. pp. 364-47

Daily Express, 10 April 1959

Jet Magazine, 30 June 2003

Laurence Olivier, Confessions of an Actor, Simon and Schuster

(1982) p. 262

Marshall, Herbert, and Mildred Stock. Ira Aldridge: The Negro

Tragedian. Washington, D.C.: Howard UP, 1993. Print.

The Arts Desk - "theartsdesk Q&A: Actor Michael Gambon" - by

Jasper Rees - 25 September 2010 - 2009. The Arts Desk Ltd. Website by 3B Digital, London, UK.

"Shakespeare's Othello | Cast & Creative - Lenny Henry".

Othellowestend.com. 11 November 2002.

Othello (1922) IMDb

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045251

Brigitte Tast, Hans-Jurgen Tast: Orson Welles - Othello -

Mogador. Aufenthalte in Essaouira, Kulleraugen Vis.Komm. Nr. 42, Schellerten 2013, ISBN 987-3-88842-042-9

Othello (1965)

"Catch My Soul (1974)".

IMDb Othello, the Black Commando

Othello (1995) IMDb

O (2001) IMDb

Young, Harvey. Theatre & Race. New York: Palgrave Macmillan,

2013. Print.

Discussion Questions

1. Does the modern adaption (2001 film) ruin the authenticity of Shakespeare's original work? What is more important: the language or the story?

2. How is Othello different in each film adaptation? Are there consistencies or differences in these adaptions? If so, what are they?

Criticism of Clips (Cont'd)

Criticism of Clips

1965 Version - He plays Othello in blackface! That's right, blackface—not the dark-brown stain that even the most daring white actors do not nowadays wish to go beyond. What's more, he caps his shiny blackface with a wig of kinky black hair and he has the insides of his lips smeared and thickened with a startling raspberry red. Several times, in his rages or reflections, he rolls his eyes up into his head so that the whites gleam like small milk agates out of the inky face.

1952 Version - "Wonderful skill at image-making but a blind spot where substance is concerned. For instance, he makes of the murder of Desdemona a chilling nightmarish display of stark faces, frenzied movements, architectural compositions, and shifting lights, cut into a montage with accompanying music and screams." (NYTimes Othello).

1995 Version- Fishburne is much better, but not truly at ease, although I wonder if he might not have been more impressive if he'd been allowed the full reach and texture of Shakespeare's prose. Parker's adaptation slices and dices the original until the movie almost could have been based on the "Othello" pages from Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. With the time he saves, Parker gives us a distractingly modern soft-core sex scene and montages that summarize offstage action that the play itself is hardly concerned with. Even worse are scenes where characters talk unheard under the music on the soundtrack; no composer - no, not even Charlie Mole - can improve on Shakespeare.

2001 Version - Mr. Phifer is a quick young actor but lacks the presence to dominate the screen in the way the role requires; though as an athlete he looms large, he's oblivious to his effect.

Various Scenes & Clips

William Shakespeare's Othello

Fun Fact:

The plot of Shakepeare's Othello is derived from Giovanbattista Giraldi Cinthio's De gli hectommithi (Better known as "Hundred Tales")

Other Important People in Theatre

Key Players in Theatre

-Many playwrights have established the ground work in the past few decades including August Wilson & Suzan-Lori Parks. Both of these playwrights have provided actors of color with a great opportunity to take on roles of their own color.

-Numerous big name actors have taken on the task of playing Othello including James Earl Jones, Lawrence Fishburne, Laurence Olivier, Patrick Stewart, & Mekhi Phifer. We will look at some of these adaptions via clips and images.

(Right) - Suzan-Lori Parks

(Bottom) - August Wilson

-Many people have shaped and formed the

theatre into what it is today, including actors and playwrights.

-Ira Aldridge was the first black man to ever play Othello on stage in 1833; He was 26 years old at the time. His performance stunned reviewers, "In Othello (Aldridge) delivers the most difficult passages with a degree of correctness that surprises the beholder" (Marshall).

-Paul Robeson was the second man to play Othello on a stage since Aldridge. This performance took place in London in 1930. Robeson played opposite Peggy Ashcroft, a well known white actress. Robeson faced much criticism for taking on this role because of his race and the fact that he kissed a white woman on stage. People were appalled.

"The concept of race

exceeds physical appearance.

It uses the look of a person as an indicator of expectations of background, history, status, and behavior. These expectations are set by first-hand observation, an awareness of the social and legal rights available to specific populations, and the consumption of a variety of media representations that model examples of racial behavior." (Young 5).

A Brief Overview of Race & Theatre

-In 1830, a new type of performance emerged known as Blackface Minstrelsy. This type of theatre featured a man not of African American decent who painted his face using burnt cork to represent someone who was black.

-This type of theatre was extremely offensive, but was largely enjoyed by the white community. The portrayals were often incorrect and over the top.

-Blackface remained a large part of American stage and film until the later part of the 20th century.

Criticism of Stage Productions

1943 - W.A. Darlington of the Daily Telegraph said that Robeson's Othello was the best that he'd ever seen.

1982 - Mr. Jones expresses the mystery of a tragedy about an alien but respected mercenary who has been able to conquer in the gentler art of love but has then been poisoned with suspicion and jealousy toward his honorable and innocent wife. It is a performance at the same time physically imposing, eloquent, and powerfully moving.

1997 Version - Described by director Jude Kelly as a "photo negative," this rethinking is one of several bold and largely successful choices in a production that also features an increased emphasis on abuse against women. Combined with Stewart's strong showing in the title role, this "Othello" would be a landmark if it weren't marred by a weak co-star...But Canada's engine is slow. A paunchy, graying figure, he looks and acts too soft for a man who needs to project anger, resentment and, eventually, downright villainy.

2007 - Iago is the motor of Othello. He powers the plot, reducing the noble Moor to savagery by infecting him with the green-eyed monster of jealousy. It is also Iago who confides in the audience, making us his accomplices in villainy in soliloquies that are usually as witty as they are hypnotic.

Not here however. There is no glee or panache to this performance, no light and shade in McGregor's workaday, slightly Scottish delivery.

Stage Productions of Othello

-1943 Broadway

Staging

-Directed by Margaret Webster

-Paul Robeson as

Othello

-296 performances

These are images from Patrick Stewart's black and white film adaptation.

-1982 Broadway staging

-James Earl Jones as

Othello

-Kelsey Grammer as Iago

-2007 Staged Adaptaion

-Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello

-Ewan McGregor was

slammed by critics by his lack of an ability to seize the evil depth within Iago's character