The History of Othello
Shaneé Sullivan
In Breif
 A.K.A.
The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of
Venice
 Based on a Italian short story: Un Captiano
Moro (A Moorish Captain)
 Centered around four themes: love, jelousy,
racism, and betrayal
Performance History
Has not been a decade when Othello was not staged
(except during the time of commonwealth)
 First known performances of Othello was in 1604
in WhiteHall for King James VI (Richard Burbage
as Othello)
 Other performances include royal performances in
honor of King James VI’s daughter in 1613 and
many performances in the Globe, Blackfriars
Theatre and at the Hampton Court from 1610-1636

Performance History
Commonwealth collapse (1660) Charles II reopened
theatres
 Charles II a royal warrant stating that only women
should play the parts of women; that year Margaret
Huges (Desdemona) and this prologue was written
for the occasion:

“ I saw the lady dressed.
The woman plays today: mistake me not;
No man in gown, or page in petticoat;
A woman to my knowledge, yet I can't
(If I should die) make affidavit on't.'
Edits
In the 1700’s Othello was molded to fit the style
and expectations of the period (offensive speeches
were removed from the play)
 In the 18th century, Othello’s character was molded
to fit traditional hero standards (lines were cut
from the play to mask Othello’s rougher character
flaws)




Desdemona and Cassio in bed
Othello’s Epileptic Fit
Lines from the Willows Song
Character History

Othello

Richard Burbage- First to play
Othello







Edmund Kean- Normally
played Iago
Ira Aldridge- first black actor to play
Othello in England
Paul Robeson- first black actor to
play Othello in USA
Henry Irving and Edwin Boothalternated roles of Othello/ Iago
Orson Welles
James Earl Jones
Patrick Stewart- portrayed the Moor
as a white man and other characters were
black actors

Lawrence Fishburne
Othello in Different Genres

Opera



Film




Orson Welles (1952)
"O“
Othello (1995)
Television



Gioacchino Rossini- No handkerchief, Iago was a reject admirer
Giuseppe Verdi's- closer to Shakespeare’s text, cut from 3500 lines to
800 lines, left out act 1
Othello (PBS)
Sanford and Son
Ballet


José Limón- The Moor's Pavane (1949)
John Neumeier- Othello (1985)
Fun with Othello
 Othello
Rap
Works Cited
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/othello
/
 http://www.rsc.org.uk/othello/about/stage.ht
ml
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Othello