Ahead of her conversation with actors André Holland, Chukwudi Iwuji and John Douglas Thompson on the challenges of playing Othello in the 21st century — co-moderated with James Shapiro — renowned Shakespeare scholar Ayanna Thompson sat down with us to talk about the nuances of the role, the shifting politics of race in its performances, how Shakespeare and the very idea of race “grew up as contemporaries,” and more.
You and James Shapiro will be in conversation with three brilliant actors who have recently played the role of Othello. What do you think made these three actors’ approaches to the role distinct?
All three are classically trained, all three brought a depth of humanity to their performances that was striking, and all three were heartbreaking. Nonetheless, their styles are different. For instance, André portrayed wells of emotion for his Othello — that was striking. Chukwudi had a physicality to his approach that made his Othello seem to vibrate with energy. And John’s facility with the verse made his Othello sound like our contemporary. All three performances were like master classes on how to perform Shakespeare.
When did you first see a production of Othello that stopped you in your tracks? What about the performance drew you to this character?
The 1965 film version, starring Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith. Even though I knew that Othello had been historically played by white actors in racial prosthetics, it was very strange and jarring to watch on film. That experience launched my research on the history of racial casting and the implications for how we perform Shakespeare today.
What are some of the essential challenges facing any actor who takes on this role?
Othello is tricked by Iago seemingly very quickly in the play (in one scene: Act 3, scene 3). It’s very challenging to play Othello as a smart, confident, capable leader if that scene does not cohere convincingly. Part of that challenge also stems from the fact that Iago not only dupes Othello but also makes the audience complicit by telling them what he is going to do. It can be very hard to play Othello as a strong and quick leader because of that structure.
In your introductory essay to The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race, you make the case that Shakespeare’s engagement with race and Blackness went far beyond the character of Othello — that in fact Shakespeare and the idea of race "grew up as contemporaries,” and that it is to be found everywhere in his plays. How might this holistic reading of Shakespeare’s relationship with race alter our perspective on the character of Othello?
Scholars like Matthieu Chapman have tabulated that between 1579 and 1642 there were at least 70 productions with Black characters, which means that there was a great deal of racial cross-dressing on the early modern stage. So Othello does not stand alone as the only Moor, or even the only Moorish general. Shakespeare, like his contemporaries, was using the stage to explore many different facets of humanity, including race.
What, for you, are the most memorable lines that Othello delivers in the play? Why?
I love how Othello describes himself at the beginning of the play before Iago has begun to erode his confidence. It is clear at the beginning that Othello thinks that he is Desdemona’s equal and that he does not need to worry about justifying their elopement because, “My parts, my title, and my perfect soul shall manifest me rightly” (1.2.36). If only he could have held onto the notion of his “perfect soul” the play could have been a comedy!
Join Ayanna Thompson and James Shapiro live in conversation with André Holland, Chukwudi Iwuji and John Douglas Thompson at Playing Othello on Monday, March 7.