Othello

Alternative title: The Shakespeare Plays
Synopsis: Television production of the play directed by Jonathan Miller with Anthony Hopkins in the title role, Bob Hoskins as Iago and Penelope Wilton as Desdemona.
Series: BBC Television Shakespeare
Language: English
Country: Great Britain; United States
Medium: Television
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Recording date: 9 Mar 1981
Transmission details: 4 Oct 1981 at 19:15 (Channel: BBC2)
Duration: 205 mins

Director

Jonathan Miller

Producer

Writer

Music

Costume

Art Direction

Contributor

Cast

Production type: Television and Radio Drama
Historical period: Renaissance Italy
Plays: Othello
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: drama in English; performances; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Black actors
Related items: Othello; Othello

Notes: The production is commercially available on DVD as part of the BBC TV SHAKESPEARE COLLECTION box set (see separate entry).
General: Cedric Messina’s and Shaun Sutton’s plans to cast black American actor James Earl Jones as Othello were thwarted because Equity, the actors union, insisted that a British actor must play the part. Cf. Susan Willis, The BBC Shakespeare Plays: Making the Televised Canon (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991) p. 14.
Textual information: Between 1978 and 1986 the BBC published individual scripts of the series. Each volume of The BBC TV Shakespeare, ed. Peter Alexander et al. (London: British Broadcasting Corporation) contains the full text of the play (the Peter Alexander edition) with accompanying notes on the scene breaks and cuts made in the production, as well as a glossary. A general introduction to the play by series literary advisor John Wilders is followed by an essay on the production of the play by Henry Fenwick. This is based on interviews with actors, directors, and designers.
Reviews: Susan Willis, The BBC Shakespeare Plays: Making the Televised Canon (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991).

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