1 OTHELLO By William Shakespeare MARKETING PACK 2 Contents: 1. General Information/Contact Sheet (2) 2. Sample Press Release (3) 3. Touring Schedule (4) 4. Information Page on the show (5-6) 5. Othello Review (7) 6. Biographies (8-11) 7. Production Photos (12) 8. Past Shows (13-15) 3 Date / August 2009 Icarus Theatre Collective and Original Theatre Company co-present national tour of Shakespeare’s Othello Othello, Moor of Venice By William Shakespeare Co-Produced & Directed by Max Lewendel Produced by Alastair Whatley Othello is a legend in his own lifetime, noble, brave, victorious. Honest Iago fuels his venom with malignance and hateful contempt. Poignant, intense, heartbreaking ; Othello mercilessly explores every inch of the human condition. Following on from the success of Shakespeare’s R&J and Kill Bill Macbeth, South Hill Park Arts Centre presents a major new production of Shakespeare’s great domestic tragedy co-produced with Icarus Theatre Collective and Original Theatre Company. Othello’s world will be brought vividly to life as a live string quartet and a stunning ensemble cast combine with some of literature’s most vibrant language and characters. A dangerous tale of ambition, jealousy and love will unfurl as Shakespeare’s classic tale of deception hurtles to its dramatic and poignant conclusion. Producer Alastair Whatley explains that, “After exploring Romeo and Juliet with school boys and Macbeth with Tarantino we have this year married Shakespeare with live music to the most astonishing effect. It took months of casting to find the actors who could also play the string instruments to such high standards.” The play stars Vinta Morgan as Othello, a regular actor for The Royal Shakespeare Company he has most recently finished playing in Romeo and Juliet in Stratford Upon Avon, and the renowned Maltese actor Christopher Dingli as Iago. Othello is touring UK theatres during spring 2009 and is showing at the [VENUE, TOWN] on [DATE] . To book tickets, contact the Box Office on [BOX OFFICE NO.] or, for more details, visit www.icarustheatre.co.uk RELEASE ENDS / Word Count:279 EDITORS’ NOTES & FULL TOUR SCHEDULE FOLLOW / For interviews, images, tickets and/or further information, please contact Alastair at Original Theatre on telephone 01284735447 , on mobile 07957540097 , or by email on [email protected] 4 TOUR SCHEDULE / Day Date Time Venue Box Office Wed-Sat 18-26 Sept 19.30 South Hill Park Arts Centre , 01344 484123 Thurs 24 Sept 14.30 Wilde Theatre, Bracknell Mon 21 Sept 19.30 Layard Theatre , Wimborne 01202 847525 Tue-Wed 29-30 Sept 19.30 Adam Smith Theatre , Kirkcaldy, Scotland 01592 583302 Thu-Sat 01-03 Oct 20.00 MacRobert Arts Centre , Stirling, Scotland 01786 466666 Tues-Sat 06-10 Oct 19.30 Harrogate Theatre , Yorkshire 01423 502116 Thur,Sat 08&10 Oct 14.00 Mon-Tue 12-13 Oct 19.30 Towngate Theatre , Basildon 01268 465465 Wed 14 Oct 19.30 Bishop's Stortford College 02032 397033 Thu-Sat 15-17 Oct 20.00 The Theatre , Chipping Norton 01608 642350 Fri 16 Oct 13.30 Mon 19 Oct 19.30 Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre , Taunton 01823 414141 Tue 20 Oct 19.30 Arc Theatre , Trowbridge 0845 2990476 Wed- 21-22 Oct 19.30 New Theatre Royal , Portsmouth, Post- 02392 649000 Thur 22 Oct 13.30 show discussion 22 Oct, 4.45pm Wed 28 Oct 19.30 Brunton Theatre , Musselburgh, Scotland 01316 652240 Thu 29 Oct 09.30 Fri-Sat 30-31 Oct 19.30 Byre Theatre , St Andrews, 01334 475000 Fri 30 Oct 13.30 Scotland Mon-Tue 02-03 Nov 19.30 Norwich Playhouse 01603 598598 Tue 03 Nov 14.30 14.00 Thu 05 Nov Arena Theatre , Wolverhampton 01902 321321 19.30 Fri 06 Nov 19.00 The Broadway Barking , London 0208 5075607 Sat-Sun 07-08 Nov 19.30 Rich Mix , London 0207 6137498 Mon-Tue 09-10 Nov 19.30 Mumford Theatre , Cambridge 01223 352932 Wed-Thu 11-12 Nov 19.30 Uppingham Theatre 01572 820820 Fri 13 Nov 19.30 Bacon Theatre , Cheltenham 01242 258002 Mon 16 Nov 19.30 Eastwood Park Theatre 0141 5774970 Tue 17 Nov 10.00 Post-Show discussion on Tues Thu-Fri 19-20 Nov 19.30 Buxton Opera House 0845 1272190 Fri 20 Nov 13.30 Post-Show discussion on Thu Wed 25 Nov 20.00 Darlington Arts Centre 01325 486555 For interviews, images, tickets and/or further information, please contact Alastair at Original Theatre on telephone 01284735447 , on mobile 07957540097 , or by email on [email protected] 5 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S The Tragedy of OTHELLO The Moor of Venice Cast: Othello : Vinta Morgan Iago : Christopher Dingli Desdemona/Sailor : Kate Colebrook Emilia/Gratiano : Laura Durrant Roderigo/Lodovico : Nick Holbek Cassio/Brabantio :Charles de Bromhead Bianca/Montano/Duke : Loren O'Dair Creative Team: Director/Co-Producer : Max Lewendel Producer : Alastair Whatley Set Design : Christopher Hone Composer : Ron McAllister Costume Design : Fiona Davis LX Designer : Oliver Welsh Sound Design : Tom Neill Fight Director : Ronin Traynor Movement Director : Ben Redfern Assistant Director : Bethany Pitts Production Manager : Steve Tyler Stage Manager : Zachary Holton Graphic Artist : John Good The play runs for approximately 2hrs 45minutes including a 15 minute interval Act 1 : Venice Act 2-5: Cyprus 6 Some things one might wish to know: 1) This is the second collaboration between the Icarus Theatre Collective and the Original Theater Company. Their first collaboration, Vincent in Brixton , was extremely well received and won huge acclaim and praise and extended its run into the summer. Venues included Theatre Royal Windsor, Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford and Devonshire Park in Eastbourne. 2) Both companies are associate companies at South Hill Park and will collaborate again in 2010 on Journey’s End and The Madness Of George III 3) The Artistic Team is adding an educational component to Othello. Workshops are offered for children from year 6 through secondary school. They include: a. The Reduced Othello : Students workshop and perform the play within 90 minutes. This workshop can serve as an introduction to the play or to expand a group's knowledge of the characters and plot of Othello . b. Location, Location, Location : This workshop approaches the text from a design angle. c. A Song of Willow : This workshop focuses on the use of movement and music in Othello . d. Black Rams and Motiveless Malignities : This workshop focuses on the key themes within Othello . e. Physicality and Etiquette : This workshop practically explores Elizabethan etiquette and how best to implement it into the production of Othello . f. Trippingly on the Tongue : Looking practically at the text of Othello , how the characters use language and what this tells us about them and unraveling the mysteries of verse speaking. g. New Fortunes and Boisterous Expeditions : To gain a more detailed understanding of Othello , it is important to consider the plays historical and political context. This workshop explores the world in which the characters live and the audience that the playwright wrote for. 4) Features live music with original compositions by Ron McAllister whose previous work includes collaboration with Opera North, Blackeyed Theatre and a host of original scores for Pantomimes and operas. 5) Co – produced with South Hill Parks Art Centre, which has had past successes with Shakespeare’s R + J by Joe Calarco and Kill Macbeth. Target Audiences: Mainstream Theatre Audiences School and College Students Drama and Theatre Students 7 Review: BRACKNELL NEWS, 30 TH SEPTEMBER 2009 COMBINING Shakespeare with a live string quartet ensured that a new production of Othello was on song for the start of it's national tour. A joint production from Icarus Theatre Collective, Original Theatre Company and South Hill Park, this version of one of Shakespeare's most forward-thinking plays was greatly enhanced by it's talented cast combining their acting skills with playing instruments live on stage. As well as providing fantastic original music from composer and South Hill Park chief executive Ron McAllister, the instruments were used as a great theatrical device - adding intrigue and suspense, particularly when played by Christopher Dingli as the play's manipulative villain Iago. Dingli's understated, yet menacing, performance as Othello's right-hand man who tricks the "noble moor" into killing his wife Desdemona had the audience hooked throughout while his musical talent provided another dimension to the amoral character of Iago. The instruments also served to give a further sense of "otherness" to the character of Othello. Already separated from many of the characters because of the colour of his skin, the fact that Othello - played Vinta Morgan - was not given an instrument helped ostracise him further. Though sometimes harrowing to watch Morgan's extremely powerful performance was an absolute triumph as the audience was gripped by his interpretation Othello's tragic descent from a brave and respected soldier to a jealous and emotionally ravaged murderer. There were also strong performances from the rest of ensemble cast, many of whom played more than one character, with Nick Holbek's Roderigo providing moments of comic relief while Laura Durrant's sympathetic portrayal of Iago's wife, and unwitting accomplice, Emilia was a joy to watch. Credit must also go to the production's costume and set designers whose adaptable creations provided the perfect backdrop to the show, allowing the story to effortlessly move from one location to another and for the actors to switch between the different characters they were playing easily, yet convincingly 8 Biographies: Alastair Whatley - Producer Director, actor and producer, Alastair founded The Original Theatre Company in 2005 having graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London. Directing credits for the company include the national tours of Shakespeare’s R&J (2008), Twelfth Night (2005), The Taming of The Shrew (2006) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (2006).