Othello

a guest post by Patricia Akhimie On my last visit to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Fall 2019 (a time that seems all too distant now) to conduct research for a new edition of Othello, I set myself the goal…

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 168 When did the concept of race develop? How far should we look back to find the attitudes that bolster white supremacy? We ask Dr. Ambereen Dadabhoy, an assistant professor of literature at Harvey Mudd College, and…

Folger Public Programs is pleased to present ENCORES, a weekly online series highlighting past performances and recalling the rich history of programming on the historic Folger stage. See an excerpt of Kim F. Hall’s lecture “‘Othello was My Grandfather’: Shakespeare…

Debra Ann Byrd writes about encountering an early female Othello in the Folger collection and developing her memoir and solo show, Becoming Othello.

At the heart of Keith Hamilton Cobb’s one-man play American Moor are explorations of blackness, racial dynamics in American theater, “ownership” of Shakespeare, and the subtext of Othello. He has performed the play across the United States, including an off-Broadway…

Leah Crocetto (Desdemona) and Russell Thomas (Otello) in WNO’s Otello. Photo by Scott Suchman. I find it fascinating that Verdi’s last two operas were both inspired by Shakespeare: Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893), yet they are very different in story,…

Desdemona and Emilia’s friendship inspires resistance and the courage to speak the truth, resulting in Iago’s exposure and Desdemona’s exoneration.

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 128 “If, with Shakespeare, we can thrill and tease an audience into embracing unknowing, that is one of the most important gifts that we can give,” says director Iqbal Khan. Khan has directed at Shakespeare’s Globe, in…

Shakespeare characters like Viola and Iago are masters of improvisation, says Folger Director Michael Witmore in this excerpt from the 2017 Shakespeare’s Birthday Lecture.

In 2012, the Donmar Warehouse opened an all-female production of Julius Caesar, directed by Tony Award-nominated director Phyllida Lloyd and starring Harriet Walter as Brutus. The production was set in a womens’ prison, and would be the first of a trilogy of all-female productions. Julius Caesar was followed by Henry IV (parts 1 and 2 combined) in 2014, and ending with The Tempest in 2016.

Promptbooks let us peer into the minds of some of history’s greatest theater-makers and see how they imagined Shakespeare’s plays.

Timon of Athens vs. Iago! Actors Ian Merrill Peakes and Louis Butelli discuss these Shakespeare characters, their degree of self-awareness, and their villain status.