Reviews
★ ★ ★ ★’Intimate, wrenching… profound’ EVENING STANDARD
★ ★ ★ ★ ‘Inspired… compelling… exciting’ THE GUARDIAN
★ ★ ★ ★ ‘Bold, intriguing, devastating’ WHATSONSTAGE
★ ★ ★ ★ ‘New depths… new relevance’THE ARTS DESK
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ‘Raw and visceral’WEST END BEST FRIEND
‘Sparklingly clear, thrillingly pacy’ THE TELEGRAPH
‘Powerful performances… psychologically rich’ THE STAGE
‘Confident, intense, remarkable’ BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE
Description
Enter the intimate, candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse for an ‘inspired’ ★★★★ (The Guardian) and ‘profound’ ★★★★ (Evening Standard) take on Shakespeare’s blistering tragedy, Othello.Celebrated by many, Othello has risen through the ranks. But can his hard-won reputation, his marriage to Desdemona, and his own subconscious survive the toxic systems that surround him?Sixteenth-century Venice becomes modern-day London, as Othello grapples with many of the same issues that successful Black people have faced for centuries.This is an Othello for our times.Following 2021’s Romeo & Juliet (★★★★ ‘bold, clever, energetic’, The Guardian) in the Globe Theatre, Director Ola Ince debuts in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse with Shakespeare’s confronting look at the destructive impact of institutional racism, toxic masculinity, and a justice system locked in a vicious cycle of self-fulfilling prophecy.
Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul
But I do love thee! and when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again.
– Act III, scene 3
Venue
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Creative Team & Cast
Team
Designer: Amelia Jane Hankin
Costume Supervisor: Olivia Ward
Assistant Director: Lindsay McAllister
Candlelight Designer: Anna Watson
Composer: Renell Shaw
Musical Director: Rio Kai
Movement director: Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster
Fight & intimacy director: Yarit Dor
Voice & text: Annamette Verspeak
Photographer: Tristram Kenton
Cast
Charlotte Bate, Ralph Davis, Poppy Gilbert, Oli Higginson, David Hounslow, Maggie Musgrove, Ken Nwosu, Ira Mandela Siobhan, Sam Swann & Che Walker.
Band:
Meera Raja (Cello/Piano)
Charlie Laffer (Guitar/Piano)
Rio Kai (Double Bass)
Gasper Sena (Percussion/Drums)