The Masks of Othello

Innovative works of live performance for multicultural audiences.

Shaping Ideas into theatrical events.

A Theatrical Essay

Written and Directed by

Carlyle Brown

In The Masks of Othello, the central character is the play, Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare and its journey through the centuries; from its beginning as part of the repertory of Shakespeare’s company the King’s Men, through the Restoration and the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th Centuries to the present time. The Antagonists are the critics of those times, who each through the lens of race and other-ness, sought to bend Shakespeare’s tragedy to their own will. A play about a play; highlighting the famous actors and moments in its production history, and the popular, critical and social reaction it caused through the ages.

Artist Team

	Written and Directed by Carlyle Brown
	Scenic Design by Karen Gundersen
	Lighting Design by Mike Wangen
	Costume Design by Sara Bernstein
	Stage Manager, Michaella K. McCoy

Cast

	Christopher Gabriel as White Othello
	James A. William as Black Othello
	Brent Doyle as Shakespeare/Iago
	Gwendolyn Schwinke as Desdemona
	Tom Sherohman as 1st Critic
	Nancy Marvy as 2^nd Critic

Artistic Director's Notes

Central to the critical issues surrounding Shakespeare’s Othello throughout the centuries has been the racial authenticity of the central character, and how and by what actors he should be played. Considered strangers, foreigners and infidels to the Elizabethans, who lumped all people south of the Mediterranean into one black and Godless tribe, the Moors, Negroes, Afric’s or Nigras, as they were called, were solely the product of the Elizabethan imagination. Shakespeare’s play contradicted the racial values of his time and the critics reacted vehemently, as would others of their fellow critics for the next four hundred years. From white actors in black face to where the central character becomes almost the exclusive property of the black actor, The Masks of Othello takes us on a visual and aural survey of that debate, telling us more about our ever-changing society than about Shakespeare’s unchanging play.

-Carlyle Brown

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