Othello runs in the Hilton College Theatre from 7 – 14 February 2014 before returning to the Playhouse Drama stage in Durban from 17 February to 20 March. The production will then tour to Gauteng for a return season at the University of Johannesburg from 5 – 16 May 2014, followed by performances at the Brooklyn Theatre in Pretoria from 18 – 22 May.
Presented in association with the Playhouse Company, Think Theatre’s production is directed as in previous seasons by Clare Mortimer, whose skills as an award-winning performing arts practitioner are strongly enhanced by her experience as a writer and a respected English teacher.
Offering an invaluable learning aid for secondary school learners studying Shakespeare’s stage tragedy as a set work, Think Theatre’s production of Othello continues to be widely appreciated by school teachers, learners and their parents.
Schools performances are at 9am and 12pm daily, Mondays – Fridays, with a public performance on Tuesday 25 February at 7pm. Tickets cost R55 (R80 for adults attending the public performance). Bookings are through Doreen Stanley on 033 343 4884 or 084 556 0668, by fax on 086 402 9592 or 033 343 4884, or by email to [email protected].
Durban Theatre Award winner Nhlakanipho Manqele this year essays the play’s demanding title role for the first time, playing opposite rising fellow new-comer, Cara Roberts, who makes her role debut as Desdemona. The rest of the cast, headed by Clinton Small with his award-winning portrayal of the villainous Iago and Mortimer as his wife Emilia, again features Michael Gritten, Daisy Spencer, Marc Kay, Bryan Hiles, Rowan Bartlett and Darren King.
With its central themes of love, envy and betrayal as relevant today as ever before, Othello continues to draw packed houses. Early advance sales for Think Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy have already started to climb dramatically as have schools reopened for the first term of 2014.
“It was deeply gratifying to experience a packed audience of high school pupils whooping with delight as performers took final bows,” wrote an appreciative Billy Suter in The Mercury in response to a previous run of the production, while Estelle Sinkins wrote in The Witness: “If your child’s school hasn’t booked seats to see Think Theatre’s production of Othello, then start lobbying them to do so now.”
Think Theatre’s production of Othello is supported by the University of Johannesburg.
