Keeping the Faith
Friday, April 11th by scott malia
Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century productions of Othello haven’t been shy about playing the race card. Whether it is a race-inverted production in which Othello is white and all of the other characters are black or one set in the Antebellum South, these versions want to make sure you think about the title character’s blackness. More specifically, the want you to know that the play is as much about racism as it is misdirected jealousy (in the same way that productions of a certain other Shakespearean play must ensure you are aware of the inherent prejudices at work within it).
A new Othello places the action in modern times and emphasizes the military component by making the main characters officers in the Navy. Most importantly, Othello is cast as a Muslim, thus bringing a near-endless supply of post-9/11 subtext to the action of the play. Regardless of whatever statements it makes about racism in this country today, the production is unique for bringing faith into the discussion. The question of whether or not Othello is Muslim as written by Shakespeare remains a point of debate, and many suggest the character is a convert to Christianity. In this light, is Othello a parable about the pitfalls of assimilation? Does Othello fall prey to Iago’s manipulations because of his own fractured and compromised identity? Ultimately, is what Othello believes more threatening to people like Iago than the color of his skin?
