Othello

Synopsis: Video recording of Brian Bedford’s 1994 production of Othello for the Stratford (Ontario) Shakespeare Festival. Ron O’Neal is Othello and Scott Wentworth, Iago.
Language: English
Country: Canada
Medium: Video
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Recording date: 25 Jun 1994

Director

Brian Bedford

Writer

William Shakespeare

Music

Alan Laing

Production Design

Ming Cho Lee

Costume

Ann Curtis

Cast

Theatre: Avon Theatre, Stratford, Ontario
Theatre company: Stratford Shakespeare Company, Ontario
Production type: Stage Recordings
Historical period: 1940s
Plays: Othello
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Stratford (Ontario) Shakespeare Festival

General: Bedford modelled O’Neal’s performance on the first black general in the US Army, Benjamin O. Davis. Set in Washington in the 1940s, the production used period army uniforms and big band sounds. The director evoked a time of segregation by localising racial prejudice; Iago, for example, spoke with a Southern drawl.
History: The production ran in repertory 22 June - 15 October 1994.
Reviews: Dessen, Alan C. Shakespeare Bulletin 13, no.1 (1995):5-8 (in review-article)

British Universities Film & Video Council