Mile Square Theatre presents a streamlined version of William Shakespeare’s Othello at Hoboken High School this weekend. The intense, 90-minute adaptation written by Y. York focuses on the four main characters – Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and Cassio – and the unfolding tragedy.
The story
Even if you aren’t completely familiar with the play, most will remember that Othello kills his wife Desdemona in a jealous rage. It is a timeless tale of love gone wrong. Othello and Desdemona were passionately in love and eloped against her father’s wishes. The very passion that Othello has for Desdemona is twisted when he hears talk from his trusted friend Iago that Desdemona and Cassio, first officer to Othello, are having an affair. Othello’s jealousy makes him unable to see through Iago’s deception, which was spurred by Iago’s thwarted hope to become first officer for Othello, an award given to Cassio. Othello’s suspicions take hold and he no longer believes his wife, who swears fidelity to him even when he is attacking her.
According to the director, Will Pomerantz, in this version of the play, it is possible to have some sympathy for Iago. “It is clear that he has been passed over for Cassio,” said Pomerantz. “And that he does have feelings for Desdemona. That said, of course what he does is unconscionable, so we cannot ultimately sympathize.”
The adaptation
Y York has written many plays for children and adults including: Afternoon of the Elves, Accidental Friends, The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi, Gerald’s Good Idea, Life Gap, Rain, The Secret Wife and many more. She has won two awards including best adaptation of literature in 2001 and The Berrilla Kerr Playwriting award in 1997. The play was initially performed at The Honolulu Theater for Youth.
The published version by York has two performance possibilities. In one, the soliloquies can be sung as rap songs or they can be played straight. Chris O’Connor, artistic director for Mile Square Theatre Company, heard about the play when it was first done at Honolulu Theater for Youth and thought it would be a great production for the company. O’Connor was intrigued by the idea of a streamlined character driven plot and the rap music.
Mile Square Theatre is performing the play straight, in the action intense, fast paced character driven version. When asked what he hoped the audience would come away with from this production, Pomerantz said, “What I want them to come away with is what all directors want when doing a Shakespeare play or any other classical text. That the play seems to live and breathe now and that the production could only be done with these particular actors for this particular audience in this particular space at this specific time.”
Hoboken High School
Mile Square Theatre Company doesn’t have a permanent theater in Hoboken yet. The production at Hoboken High School is an experiment that O’Connor hopes will become a template for future productions. After the public performance this weekend, a week of shows will be shown to students from the high school and other participating schools. David Miller, Education Director of Mile Square Theatre, has compiled a study guide for students, and there will be a question and answer period following the play.
“This really lives up to our mission of being a company that serves the community educationally as well as culturally,” said O’Connor. “In future projects, we are hoping to find grant money so we can go into the classroom after performances and conduct workshops. The wonderful thing about this is that it is free to the public. We have raised all the funds for the production and the public and the school groups pay nothing.”
The director
Director Will Pomerantz has 10 years of extensive experience, and this is his second time directing for Mile Square Theatre. Recently he developed A Free Man of Color by John Guare and The God Botherers by Richard Bean for The Public Theater. Pomerantz has directed for many other organizations including: The Signature Theater, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Denver Center, The Mark Taper Forum, The Pittsburgh Public, The Studio Theatre, and others.
Pomerantz is the first American director invited to direct his production of Cinders by Janucz Glowacki at The National Theater in Poland. The play is now in its second year in Warsaw. He is an alumnus of The Director’s Lab at Lincoln Center and currently director in residence for The Culture Project at 45 Bleeker.
This production of Othello provides him with an interesting directing experience. Instead of having the actors removed from the audience on the stage, the audience will sit on stage with the performers. This creates a more intimate environment where the audience almost feels like they are a part of the unfolding drama because they are so close.
The unusual staging will provide surprises for the viewers. “I believe having the audience so close to the action will allow people to be pulled into the action,” said Pomerantz. “We should feel like flies on the wall, with the privilege of omniscience and the painful necessity of seeing this thing through.”
According to the director Will Pomerantz, the costumes and setting are modern, but really the play could be any time period.
Professional actors
John McAdams, who plays villainous Iago, is a Hoboken resident and Mile Square Theatre alumnus. Other theater credits include: The Laramie Project at Union Square Theatre, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde at Minetta Lane, and many more.
Othello is Alexander Elisa’s first production with Mile Square Theatre. During the summer season at Weathervane Theatre, Elisa performed two of his favorite roles, as Beast from Beauty and the Beast and Bernardo from West Side Story.
Anna Kepe plays Desdemona. Kepe has many years experience in the arts. In addition to her acting credits which include theater, film and television, she has directing and producing credits. Many of her credits include plays by Shakespeare. Kepe has played Lady Macbeth, Lady Capulet, and the Queen in Cymbeline.
Mathew Stucky is Cassio. Stucky recently played Lucentio from Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare and Company. Stucky received his BFA in acting from Syracuse University and trained at The Globe Theatre in London.
And…
This production of Othello was made possible by generous grants from PSE&G, Washington Mutual, the Puffin Foundation, and by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and The National Endowment for the Arts, which were administered by The Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs.
The production is free and open to the public, although reservations are strongly encouraged as seating is limited. The performances are Friday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m., and on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Hoboken High School is located on the corner of Ninth and Clinton. For more information or reservations please call, (201) 716-3044. For more information about Mile Square Theatre please visit their website at: www.milesquaretheatre.org