The first performance of Othello occurred on November 1, 1604, at Whitehall Palace in London. It became very popular and was one of the twenty plays performed by the King’s Men during the winter of 1612 in celebration of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V, Elector Palatine. During the Restoration Margaret Hughes, playing Desdemona, was the first woman to appear on a public stage in England. The most famous American production is Margaret Webster’s production in 1943 featuring Paul Robeson as Othello and Jose Ferrer as Iago. This production was the first-ever in America to feature a black actor playing Othello with an otherwise all-white cast. It ran for 296 performances, almost twice as long as any other Shakespearean play ever produced on Broadway. Robeson went on to perform the role several more times in Britain.
One of the most proclaimed performances of the role of Othello during the twentieth century was Laurence Olivier’s at the Royal National Theatre in 1964. The film version still holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for acting ever given to a Shakespeare film. In 1999 Ray Fearon became the first black British actor to take the part, the first black man to play Othello with the RSC since Paul Robeson.
In the twenty-first century there was a performance for which tickets were selling for £2,000 on the internet. It was at the Donmar Warehouse in London, directed by Michael Grandage with Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello and Ewan McGregor as Iago. The latest big hit as Othello is the British Black comedian, Lenny Henry.
Other Manifestations of Othello
There have been many operas and ballets based on Othello. The most notable of those is Verdi’s opera, Othello, an Italian Grand Opera in four acts, widely thought to be Verdi’s greatest opera. The American actor, William Marshall played Othello in a jazz musical version, Catch My Soul, with Jerry Lee Lewis as Iago, in Los Angeles in 1968. His Othello was captured on record in 1964 with Jay Robinson as Iago and on video in 1981 with Ron Moody as Iago.
Kenneth Brannagh as Othello
Hello,
I took a course on the history of theatre at the University of Rome in 1992-93.
My professor refused to believe I would be able to learn Italian in two semesters (I did), and she gave me a photocopied copy of a book that covered the history of the productions of “Othello” through the ages in English. I don’t think it was contemporary to 1992.
Points from the book I remember most vividly were the struggles actors had trying to portray Iago, since his motivation is so mysterious, and how a late 19th century or early 20th century Desdemona actress had to vengefully put sharp pins in her hair so the actor in the title role wouldn’t rough her up so much and grab her by the hair, dragging her back and forth across stage (but it only made for a more enraged Othello).
But the book started with discussions of early productions and discussed abridged scripts over the years as well as why Iago hates his wife, and how there’s never a really great production, etc.
Do you have any idea what book this may have been? I’d love to buy a copy.
Paul