Othello

The play

Othello by William Shakespeare. Possibly written 1604.

Othello and South Africa

In the early 19th century this was the most popular Shakespeare play in Cape Town, at least 15 performances being done between 1800 and 1864. This includes one travesty and three productions by a Dutch amateur group Door wyer bloeit de kunst, in Dutch translation. However, most probably because of its racial overtones, the play was seldom performed in the later 19th and most of the 20th centuries, though the play was studied by University students. It resurfaced in the later part of the 20th century, influenced by the showing of the Laurence Olivier film (19**) In 1975, an Afrikaans version of it (tr Anna Neethling-Pohl?*) was done by PACT in 1975, the latter featuring Louis van Niekerk in the lead role in black-face, Sandra Prinsloo as Desdemona and Marius Weyers as Iago. (The same translation was done by SWAPAC in Windhoek in 1977) The first black Othello in the country was played by John Kani in a landmark production directed for the Market Theatre by Janet Suzman in 1986, with designs by Johan Engels.

The South African productions

1818

A performance (with The Poor Soldier as afterpiece) by the Gentlemen Amateurs in the African Theatre on 24 October, 1818; as a benefit for the Liverpool actress Miss Williams.

Though an African-American Shakespearen actor, **, also toured the country in the 18**'s and no doubt included excerpts from the play in his repertoire.

So did Sir ** Benson?* CHECK***] It resurfaced in the later part of the 20th century with a production by ** in 19**. Shortly after the showing of the Laurence Olivier film in 19**, was done by

1975

PACT produced an Afrikaans version of it (tr Anna Neethling-Pohl?*) in the Breytenbach Theatre in 1975, shortly after the showing of the Laurence Olivier film had been shown in South Africa. The production featured Louis van Niekerk in the lead role in black-face, Sandra Prinsloo as Desdemona and Marius Weyers as Iago, and was directed by Francois Swart.

1977

The same Afrikaans translation was done by SWAPAC in Windhoek.

1986

The first black Othello in the country was played by John Kani in a landmark production directed for the Market Theatre by Janet Suzman in 1986, with designs by Johan Engels. Iago was superbly played by Richard Haines, while Joanna Weinberg played Desdemona. (A film of this production was shown on BBC television)

An interesting aside on this was the 197* production of Othello Slegs Blankes ("Othello, For Whites Only") at The Space (Cape Town) Written and directed by Donald Howarth in 197*, it featured John Badenhorst, Limpie Basson, Peter Benedix, Mavourneen Bryceland, Yvonne Bryceland, Ben Dekker, Val Donald, Anthony Flesch, Keith Grenville, David Haynes, John Kennedy, Charles Kidd, Charles Kinsman, Icky Kurgan, Michael McGovern, Paul Slabolepszy, Michael Swinton and Harry Victor. Costumes by Aubrey Couling, lighting by Brian Astbury and stage management by Bee Berman. (Unpublished).

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