Othello

[Heathcliff]

Posted pretentious rubbish while drunk. That’s why I took it down. 

[Heathcliff]

Sorry

[Travel]

Hey, if you want to start discussion about Othello and/or Shakespeare in general, be my guest! I love Shakespeare. I had the chance to see Hamlet at the Globe this summer, and although it wasn't the best version of the play I've seen, it was still fascinating. Hamlet is easily my favorite of his with Othello in the top five. 

[Heathcliff]

That's fantastic Travel! I want to try and get into Shakespeare again- I only know a handful of plays at the moment. I've never seen Hamlet, and I should be brave enough to give that a go.

I just revisited  a couple of plays recently via Royal Shakespeare Company DVDs. I had seen Othello once before in the theatre but didn't know it well. I love some of the language.

I saw an interesting interview with an actor who played Othello about how you could consider it a racist play- but if the adaptation is well done, maybe that doesn't matter. The DVD version I saw features a black actor playing Iago, which is an interesting twist- but more importantly the guy gives a really awesome performance.

 

[Travel]

Did the actor explain why it could be considered a racist play? 

Have you seen "Looking for Richard"? It's a great documentary about Al Pacino putting on his own show of Richard III, but also an exploration of why Shakespeare is so important in the present day and how to make him interesting for modern audiences. It's very entertaining and insightful, with an amazing cast. It covers so much, including the creative process, it's very funny to see other great actors arguing with Pacino about how to do a good version of a Shakespeare play. 

[Sequoia]

I love Shakespeare!  In September, I went to London for the first time in my life and wanted to see something at the Globe. Othello was already sold out, so I saw A Winter's Tale instead. It was amazing, we stood in the front row and everything was so near, you could really feel the tension of the actors. Me and my friend were so excited that we actually considered going there again the next day, even though it felt strange to watch the same play twice within two days. But someone heard us talking about that and just offered us two cards for Othello  He was a teacher and some of his students hadn't made it to the class trip. It was my lucky day, I guess.  

Both plays were amazing and I can't wait to go back to London... I'd love to see Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice. I've seen them before, but only in German and in a normal theatre. The atmosphere in the Globe is so different... It makes the plays feel so much more real.