Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm Oct. 31 - Nov. 22 Theatre Asylum: The Elephant 6322 Santa Monica Blvd. LA. CA .90038
OTHELLO Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
Stage Manager - Robyn G. Lee Ass. Director - Anna Walters Dramaturg - Emilio Aldrich
Costume Designer - Katie Jorgenson Lighting Designer - Colleen Dunleap Soundtrack & Masks - Carly D. Weckstein Original Melody to 'Willow' - Megan Pfefferkorn
STARRING: Zach Brown - Othello Zack Hamra - Iago Katelyn Myer - Desdemona Gerard Marzilli - Michael Cassio Angela Sauer - Emilia and The Masked Chorus: Richard Abraham - Brabantio/Gratiano* Maggie Blake - Clown/Duke Cameron Daxon - Roderigo Luis Ordaz - Montano Emma Servant -Bianca Micah Watterson - Lodovico
*Weekend 3 Understudy: Sean Fitzgerald
PHOTOGRAPHY BY EMILIO ORTEGA ALDRICH
From the company that brought you a cross-gender cast Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew as a BDSM love story, comes a provocative Othello – a theatrical exploration of outsiders and obsessions.
For director Carly D. Weckstein, Othello is one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most uncomfortable tragedies. It not only includes deep racism and misogyny but is often accused of sexualizing and glorifying domestic violence– an apparently odd choice for a progressive and “sex-positive” theater company. But for Weckstein, the fact that Othello remains deeply disturbing is the reason to stage it. In talking about her motivation to direct the play, she argues “racism, misogyny, jealousy and domestic violence are tragedies that happen every day. If we actually want to heal what is damaging in our world, we must confront what most upsets us and that means coming face to face with our own demons.”
The Illyrian Players have taken their signature ensemble-based approach to exploring this tragedy with a cast of eleven actors: five of whom play the five primary characters, and six who create a Masked Chorus, doubling as all other characters.