The production of Othello was put on by the Shakespeare Theatre Company, located in Washington, D. C. The setting occurred in Venice at the time of war between Venice and Turkey, later moving into the island of Cyprus. Though the play is originally set in the late sixteenth century this adaption was portrayed in post WWI. The change in the time made it possible for a changes in costume and more modernized battle scenes. The main plot point starts with the conflict, which is whether lago’s plan to destroy Othello will pan out as he wishes, and the unapproved marriage between Othello and Desdemona.
Iago’s want to ruin Othello’s life is due to Othello promoting Cassio over himself, and also that Othello might have slept with Emilia, lago’s wife. The rising action begins as lago sets his plan into motion through using Rodrigo, Desdemona’s rejected admirer, to bring down Cassio and begin to place doubt into Othello’s mind. The climax is fulfilled once lago has successfully convinced Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful through use of the handkerchief, the first present Othello had given Desdemona, which was also his parents. The falling action begins as Desdemona is murdered and the others soon follow.
This leads to the Emilia discovering that her husband was the evil mastermind the entire time. The conclusion is that lago is discovered as evil and arrested, but at this point Desdemona, Emilia, and Othello are dead. The character of Othello was played by Faran Tahir, a Pakistani-American. Othello is a respected Moor that holds a high position in the military. Though he is accepted for his military rank, he is still treated differently due to his culture and skin tone.
Othello’s downfall is caused by his overly trusting nature to the wrong people. ago was played by Jonno Roberts, from the outside view lago seems to be trustworthy and faithful, yet his inner thoughts and actions prove him to be cunning and deceitful. Desdemona, played by Ryman Sneeds, was depicted as the picture of innocence and a fully devoted wife. The main theme portrayed through the production is cultural differences. This take on a classic Shakespeare tragedy emphasized much on the cultural differences between the Moore and the Venetians. This separation in culture deepens throughout the play, to show Othello’s native ways.
The use of the culture barrier added a new element to the production, and made the show far different from my expectations. I came in understanding that this Othello was not being portrayed by a black actor and from the playbill it was understood that the play would have a strong militaristic use. But, I did not expect to see such a strong use of the Islamic culture. Through highlighting cultural difference the play was hitting on a large topic in America, that being the controversy on those that practice the islamic tradition.
Othello becomes “more muslim” as the play goes on which is fairly disturbing to those that are not familiar with the religion. There are of course good and bad followers of every religion, but Othello is portrayed as the Muslim that our culture fears. I don’t find it to be a coincidence that this show is happening at the same time as the debates in presidential debate to rid of muslims in whole and to not let refugees into the country. The production took a huge step in adding cultural differences in small steps through Act I, then in Act II Othello is completely portrayed as the “other.
At the beginning of the play Othello is portrayed to be a militaristic man, just as his crew, but we start to see that unravel when Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, receives news that his daughter has married the Moor. He refers to Othello as black and accuses him of using witchcraft to seduce his daughter. Through Othello’s opening costume he looks the same as the other cast members, and we only learn he comes from another culture through Brabantio’s attempt to have him arrested. At this time Othello is a converted Christian, no longer practicing Islam.
Through the costuming of Othello in military wear it often becomes hard to tell him apart from all the other uniforms. Now in Act II, once Othello starts to become enraged in jealousy is when his character seems to fall back on his culture. Othello is no longer adorned in military wear, but now I believe is wearing a thobe and a bisht. A thobe is a long robe worn by men, the top looks more like a shirt, while the bottom is loose and ankle length, and is typically white. A bisht is to be worn over a thobe by someone who holds high government or religious positions.
Othello is a well respected military leader, therefore it makes sense he would be wearing a more formal cultural outfit. Othello not only no longer wore his military wear at this point, but his personality had changed from being a man in high power to a man starting to become crazy over jealousy. The costume change added to the division in characters by showing Othello to still be Muslim. Before Othello sets out his plan to kill the beautiful Desdemona, he begins to pray. This prayer was added to show once more that Othello had gone back to his Islamic religion.
Othello was not praying in a Christian sense, knees bent and hands together, but praying as a Muslim, knees bent and bowing down to the ground. This image was very disturbing leading up to the honor killing of Desdemona. Othello was not praying for her or for repentance, but it seemed as though he was praying for the strength to commit the act. Honor killings are done upon women who have committed an indecency. Othello believes that Desdemona had been unfaithful, therefore she needed to die.
The fact that Othello was muslim and performing a honour killing, was in no way a coincidence to the director. The use of costuming and choice of scene direction all came together to portray the sameness of Othello in the beginning to transforming Othello into a full Islamic believer and follower. As Othello becomes more insane he falls back onto what is familiar, that being his culture and religion. The decision to make Othello muslim, and strengthen this throughout the play, added a new sense of unfamiliarity and disturbance to the production.