History Theatre / Othello

** As well as more obscure operas by Rossini (1816, featuring an optional happy ending) and Daron Hagen (1999, retitled Bandanna, with Othello as the Mexican-born sheriff of a 1960's US border town)

It's worth noting that in times past, it was usual for white actors to play Othello by way of {{Blackface}}, up to and past the 1960s, although Black actors have played the part occasionally since at least the 19th century. Thus, the early Othello movies have a {{white|MaleLead}} [[RaceLift Othello]]. It is a case of post-facto ValuesDissonance, but it does not make such portrayals inherently bad. As a Christian Moor, or part-Moor (as in, from Morocco, although that was a catch-all term to refer to any kind of Muslim - hence why the Muslims living in the southern Philippines are most commonly known as "Moros"), Othello could have been anything from a [[https://data.whicdn.com/images/188619560/original.jpg fair-skinned and blonde-haired Kabyle]] to quite dark, the phenotypical diversity of Morocco being what it is-- but he was most likely some light to medium shade of brown, [[https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/King-Mohammed-VI-Decorates-Several-Young-Moroccans-on-His-53rd-Birthday-640x480.jpg like]] [[https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Moroccans.jpg most]] [[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/moroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-news-photo/837988126?et=33WyDkI7S_RGpj4FFKpw8A&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gettyimages.com%2Fdetail%2Fnews-photo%2Fmoroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-news-photo%2F837988126%3Fesource%3DSEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#/moroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-protest-picture-id837988126 Moroccans.]] We don't really know for sure. In his most recent portrayals he has been portrayed by very dark actors, and the "racism" angle--often using racial stereotypes as understood in the modern USA--has been played up considerably. This is even ''more'' severe of a RaceLift, as Morocco's predominantly Berber population (the most likely inspiration for Othello) is, in fact, caucasian, and someone in the Mediterranean Basin was unlikely to have ever even seen a Sub-Saharan African (bar Egypt's connection with modern Sudan) in the 16th century. What slaves there were in the 16th Century Mediterranean were predominantly Slavic peoples from eastern Europe, and if anyone was doing the slaving it was probably an Italian (specifically Genoan or Venetian), a Turk, or a Tatar. Racial characterisation of Sub-Saharan African peoples as inferior, the way we understand racism against them today, came after this period. A phenomenon largely, but not entirely, confined to the Americas it was a post-facto justification of sorts for the trans-Atlantic slave trade when it got going in earnest over a century later.

* GreenEyedMonster: The play's major theme; jealousy ends up being the motivation for most characters, and it's eventually what causes everything to end in destruction. Iago accuses Cassio of being this to Othello, while likely serving as an example himself.

->''"She was pure, she was clean, she was virginal too\\
So why'd ya hafta go and make her face turn blue?"''
-->-- '''The Creator/ReducedShakespeareCompany'''

%% In almost all cases one quote is sufficient. This is a special case: we're providing a
%% humorously compressed summary in quote form.

* A 1997 "photo negative" production by the Royal Shakespearean Society featured an all-black cast, with Creator/PatrickStewart as Othello. With a stylish "fracture" [[BaldBlackLeaderGuy skull tattoo]] to emphasize his martial prowess.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: ''Othello.'' It's very hard to tell whether he is supposed to be a Moor of Moroccan descent or a Sub-Saharan African. And he was originally played by a white actor in blackface, which doesn't help at all. He is called "black" a few times, but that term back then was far broader than it is in modern Anglophone countries and could even simply refer to pale-skinned Northern Europeans with dark hair. For what it's worth, modern researchers are leaning towards the former, as Othello's appearance seems to be based an emissary from Morocco who showed up in England a couple years before the play was completed to forge an Anglo-Moroccan alliance. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_el-Ouahed_ben_Messaoud Said emissary, Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, was a caucasian, olive-skinned Berber.]]

* AmbiguouslyGay: Iago, in some adaptations, can be seen as this. Some scholars argue that his desire for Othello could be a possible motive for his crimes. His marriage to Emilia does little to hurt this trope given he clearly does not truly care for her.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Iago, in some adaptations, can be seen as this. Some scholars argue that his desire for Othello could be a possible motive for his crimes.

In Venice, Othello, a Moorish[[note]]a vague title that could apply to several groups of people[[/note]] prince and general in the Venetian army, has acquired two enemies. Roderigo, a man with considerable wealth, hates Othello for marrying Desdemona, an Italian noblewoman that he was interested in. Iago, a incredibly cruel fellow officer, hates Othello for promoting a young man named Michael Cassio over him. Iago convinces Roderigo to help him destroy Othello's life using Cassio as a patsy. But Roderigo underestimates how much Iago is willing to manipulate and backstab everyone to get his revenge.

It's worth noting that in times past, it was usual for white actors to play Othello by way of {{Blackface}}, up to and past the 1960s, although Black actors have played the part occasionally since at least the 19th century. Thus, the early Othello movies have a {{white|MaleLead}} [[RaceLift Othello]]. It is a case of post-facto ValuesDissonance, but it [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment does not make such portrayals inherently bad.]] As a Christian Moor, or part-Moor (as in, from Morocco, although that was a catch-all term to refer to any kind of Muslim - hence why the Muslims living in the southern Philippines are most commonly known as "Moros"), Othello could have been anything from a [[https://data.whicdn.com/images/188619560/original.jpg fair-skinned and blonde-haired Kabyle]] to quite dark, the phenotypical diversity of Morocco being what it is-- but he was most likely some light to medium shade of brown, [[https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/King-Mohammed-VI-Decorates-Several-Young-Moroccans-on-His-53rd-Birthday-640x480.jpg like]] [[https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Moroccans.jpg most]] [[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/moroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-news-photo/837988126?et=33WyDkI7S_RGpj4FFKpw8A&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gettyimages.com%2Fdetail%2Fnews-photo%2Fmoroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-news-photo%2F837988126%3Fesource%3DSEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#/moroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-protest-picture-id837988126 Moroccans.]] We don't really know for sure. In his most recent portrayals he has been portrayed by very dark actors, and the "racism" angle--often using racial stereotypes as understood in the modern USA--has been played up considerably. This is even ''more'' severe of a RaceLift, as Morocco's predominantly Berber population (the most likely inspiration for Othello) is, in fact, caucasian, and someone in the Mediterranean Basin was unlikely to have ever even seen a Sub-Saharan African (bar Egypt's connection with modern Sudan) in the 16th century. What slaves there were in the 16th Century Mediterranean were predominantly Slavic peoples from eastern Europe, and if anyone was doing the slaving it was probably an Italian (specifically Genoan or Venetian), a Turk, or a Tatar. Racial characterisation of Sub-Saharan African peoples as inferior, the way we understand racism against them today, came after this period. A phenomenon largely, but not entirely, confined to the Americas it was a post-facto justification of sorts for the trans-Atlantic slave trade when it got going in earnest over a century later.

It's worth noting that in times past, it was usual for white actors to play Othello by way of {{Blackface}}, up to and past the 1960s, although Black actors have played the part occasionally since at least the 19th century. Thus, the early Othello movies have a {{white|MaleLead}} [[RaceLift Othello]]. It is a case of post-facto ValuesDissonance, but it [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment does not make such portrayals inherently bad.]] As a Christian Moor, or part-Moor (as in, from Morocco, although that was a catch-all term to refer to any kind of African), Othello could have been anything from a [[https://data.whicdn.com/images/188619560/original.jpg fair-skinned and blonde-haired Kabyle]] to quite dark, the phenotypical diversity of Morocco being what it is-- but he was most likely some light to medium shade of brown, [[https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/King-Mohammed-VI-Decorates-Several-Young-Moroccans-on-His-53rd-Birthday-640x480.jpg like]] [[https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Moroccans.jpg most]] [[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/moroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-news-photo/837988126?et=33WyDkI7S_RGpj4FFKpw8A&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gettyimages.com%2Fdetail%2Fnews-photo%2Fmoroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-news-photo%2F837988126%3Fesource%3DSEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#/moroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-protest-picture-id837988126 Moroccans.]] We don't really know for sure. In his most recent portrayals he has been portrayed by very dark actors, and the "racism" angle--often using racial stereotypes as understood in the modern USA--has been played up considerably. This is even ''more'' severe of a RaceLift, as Morocco's predominantly Berber population (the most likely inspiration for Othello) is, in fact, caucasian, and someone in the Mediterranean Basin was unlikely to have ever even seen a Sub-Saharan African (bar Egypt's connection with modern Sudan) in the 16th century. What slaves there were in the 16th Century Mediterranean were predominantly Slavic peoples from eastern Europe, and if anyone was doing the slaving it was probably an Italian (specifically Genoan or Venetian), a Turk, or a Tatar. Racial characterisation of Sub-Saharan African peoples as inferior, the way we understand racism against them today, came after this period. A phenomenon largely, but not entirely, confined to the Americas it was a post-facto justification of sorts for the trans-Atlantic slave trade when it got going in earnest over a century later.

** The 2001 TV movie sets the story in modern London, with Creator/EammonnWalker as "John Othello" and Creator/ChristopherEccleston as "Ben Jago" as high-ranking police officers who fall out after Othello gets a promotion Jago was expecting.

** The 2001 TV movie sets the story in modern London, with "John Othello" and "Ben Jago" as high-ranking police officers who fall out after Othello gets a promotion Jago was expecting.

In Venice, Othello, a Moorish[[note]]a vague title that could apply to several groups of people[[/note]] prince and general in the Venetian army, has acquired two enemies. Roderigo, a man with considerable wealth, hates Othello for marrying Desdemona, an Italian noblewoman that he was interested in. Iago, a incredibly cruel fellow, hates Othello for promoting a young man named Michael Cassio over him. Iago convinces Roderigo to help him destroy Othello's life using Cassio as a patsy. But Roderigo underestimates how much Iago is willing to manipulate and backstab everyone to get his revenge.

In Venice, Othello, a Moorish[[note]]a vague title that could apply to several groups of people[[/note]] prince and general in the Venetian army, has acquired two enemies. Roderigo, a man with considerable wealth, hates Othello for marrying Desdemona, an Italian noblewoman that he was interested in. Iago, a guy who likes to claim that he’s honest, hates Othello for promoting a young man named Michael Cassio over him. Iago convinces Roderigo to help him destroy Othello's life using Cassio as a patsy. But Roderigo underestimates how much Iago is willing to manipulate and backstab everyone to get his revenge.

In Venice, Othello, a Moorish[[note]]a vague title that could apply to several groups of people[[/note]] prince and general in the Venetian army, has acquired two enemies. Roderigo hates Othello for marrying Desdemona, an Italian noblewoman that he was interested in. Iago hates Othello for promoting a young man named Michael Cassio over him. Iago convinces Roderigo to help him destroy Othello's life using Cassio as a patsy. But Roderigo underestimates how much Iago is willing to manipulate and backstab everyone to get his revenge.

* AlmostDeadGuy[=/=]FinalSpeech: Poor smothered Desdemona manages to gasp out a few words before dying... of asphyxiation. Even by Renaissance standards, this may have stretched disbelief beyond the exigencies of the RuleOfDrama. Most adaptations and modern productions end up cutting the speech entirely.

* AlmostDeadGuy[=/=]FinalSpeech: Poor smothered--and stabbed--Desdemona manages to gasp out a few words before dying... of asphyxiation. Even by Renaissance standards, this may have stretched disbelief beyond the exigencies of the RuleOfDrama. Most adaptations and modern productions end up cutting the speech and the stabbing entirely.

* Brabantio is beside himself with anger upon learning that his daughter Desdemona has eloped with Othello, to the point of denial. He hauls Othello before the Duke of Venice and accuses him of enchanting his daughter. On it being made clear that Desdemona was merely enticed by Othello's stories of his exploits in war, Brabantio asks his daughter to whom in the assembled company she most owes obedience, implying that it is to him, her father. Desdemona tactfully replies that she has learned to respect him and remains his daughter, but that as her mother preferred Brabantio over her father, so she now has a responsibility to her husband. Brabantio bitterly resigns himself to his daughter's marriage and tells Desdemona: "For your sake, jewel, / I am glad at soul I have no other child: / For thy escape would teach me tyranny, / To hang clogs on them."

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Iago has a simultaneously epic and understated one: one of the very first things he says is a detailed speech about how absolutely nothing he says is to be trusted and that he's only out for himself. Naturally, the UnwittingPawn he's talking to [[IdiotBall interprets this as meaning he has Iago's loyalty]]. The line has more weight for [=16th=] Century audiences, as in Exodus 3:14, God gave his laws to Moses on Mt. Sinai; when Moses asked God his name, He replied: "I am that I am", meaning Iago is calling himself the ''Devil''.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Iago has a simultaneously epic and understated one: one of the very first things he says is a detailed speech about how absolutely nothing he says is to be trusted and that he's only out for himself. Naturally, the UnwittingPawn he's talking to [[IdiotBall interprets this as meaning he has Iago's loyalty]]. The line has more weight for [=16th=] Century audiences, as in Exodus 3:14, God gave his laws to Moses on Mt. Sinai; when Moses asked God his name, He replied: "I am that I am" (Exodus,iii,14), meaning Iago is calling himself the ''Devil''.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Iago has a simultaneously epic and understated one: one of the very first things he says is a detailed speech about how absolutely nothing he says is to be trusted and that he's only out for himself. Naturally, the UnwittingPawn he's talking to [[IdiotBall interprets this as meaning he has Iago's loyalty]]. The line has more weight for [=16th=] Century audiences, as Jesus said "I am what I am", meaning Iago is saying he's the ''Devil''.
-->'''Iago:'''I am not what I am.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Iago has a simultaneously epic and understated one: one of the very first things he says is a detailed speech about how absolutely nothing he says is to be trusted and that he's only out for himself. Naturally, the UnwittingPawn he's talking to [[IdiotBall interprets this as meaning he has Iago's loyalty]].

It's worth noting that in times past, it was usual for white actors to play Othello by way of {{Blackface}}, up to and past the 1960s, although Black actors have played the part occasionally since at least the 19th century. Thus, the early Othello movies have a {{white|MaleLead}} [[RaceLift Othello]]. It is a case of post-facto ValuesDissonance, but it [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment does not make such portrayals inherently bad.]] As a Christian Moor, or part-Moor (as in, from Morocco, although that was a catch-all term to refer to any kind of African), Othello could have been anything from a [[https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-ecafa9e3cb1ac7c3464e28a14862f02d-c fair-skinned and blonde-haired Kabyle]] to quite dark, the phenotypical diversity of Morocco being what it is-- but he was most likely some light to medium shade of brown, [[https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/King-Mohammed-VI-Decorates-Several-Young-Moroccans-on-His-53rd-Birthday-640x480.jpg like]] [[https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Moroccans.jpg most]] [[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/moroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-news-photo/837988126?et=33WyDkI7S_RGpj4FFKpw8A&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gettyimages.com%2Fdetail%2Fnews-photo%2Fmoroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-news-photo%2F837988126%3Fesource%3DSEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#/moroccans-chant-slogans-in-casablanca-on-august-23-during-a-protest-picture-id837988126 Moroccans.]] We don't really know for sure. In his most recent portrayals he has been portrayed by very dark actors, and the "racism" angle--often using racial stereotypes as understood in the modern USA--has been played up considerably. This is even ''more'' severe of a RaceLift, as Morocco's predominantly Berber population (the most likely inspiration for Othello) is, in fact, caucasian, and someone in the Mediterranean Basin was unlikely to have ever even seen a Sub-Saharan African (bar Egypt's connection with modern Sudan) in the 16th century. What slaves there were in the 16th Century Mediterranean were predominantly Slavic peoples from eastern Europe, and if anyone was doing the slaving it was probably an Italian (specifically Genoan or Venetian), a Turk, or a Tatar. Racial characterisation of Sub-Saharan African peoples as inferior, the way we understand racism against them today, came after this period. A phenomenon largely, but not entirely, confined to the Americas it was a post-facto justification of sorts for the trans-Atlantic slave trade when it got going in earnest over a century later.

* JerkAss:

* PaulRobeson and Creator/JamesEarlJones both made their names playing ''Othello'' in the theater, in the 50s-70s, with the latter following in the former's footsteps.

* A 1981 BBC production starring Creator/AnthonyHopkins in the title role. It was originally going to star Creator/JamesEarlJones, but British Equity disapproved.

* A 2001 film directed by Geoffrey Sax and starring Creator/ChristopherEccleston, Creator/EamonnWalker, and Keeley Hawes, which moved the plot to modern England and changed everyone's names. The male protagonists are high-ranking police officers in the London Met.

* JerkAss: Othello, suspecting Desdemona, questions Emilia, who has been with Desdemona from Act 1 onwards, whether his wife had cheated on him with Cassio. She says no. He then asks Desdemona to promise him that she hasn't cheated. She does. He decides not to believe either of them. This could be proof of Iago's amazing skills of manipulation, but considering that the bulk of the play takes place over three days in Cyprus and Cassio and Desdemona haven't even had a chance to talk, it's clear that Othello just doesn't trust his wife, which makes him a jerk.

** The jokes Iago throws around to disarm people are a big case of HarsherInHindsight. Of course, given how ambiguous Iago's motives are, he could merely be putting on a racist facade, playing to his audience.

** Brabantio isn't a as villainous as Roderigo and especially not on Iago's level, but he's still quite quick to draw swords against Othello due to being horrified at his daughter being with a Moor.