The Royal Exchange Company put on the version of Othello we watched and it was directed by Braham Murray. It was approximately three hours long.

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 Michael Winder                                    Theatre studies 

Othello             

The Royal Exchange Company put on the version of Othello we watched and it was directed by Braham Murray. It was approximately three hours long.

The cast was:

Lorraine Ashbourne                                                                           Emilia

John Branwell                                              Brabantio / 2nd Gentleman

John Cording                                                  Lodvico / 1st Gentleman

Emma Darwell-smith                                                                  Desdemona

Paterson Joseph                                                                     Othello

Katherine Kelly                                                                        Bianca

Richard Metcalfe                                                   Montano / Senator

Joseph Murray                                                                         Cassio

Andy Serkis                                                                                 Iago

Sam Sprunell                                                                       Roderigo

Will Tacey                                                                  Duke / Gratiano

Ben Toye                                                             Officer / Gentleman

Dan Willis                                                                Ensemble Officer

 

   The play opens with a completely black stage. The stage is round and it has seats going right the way around it. The actors enter from isles that are spaced evenly around the stage. The lights are positioned all away round the roof in a circle. The seating area has 3 tiers, and the top two have small baloneys where actors can appear from in the crowd to give the effect of the actors being higher up than the other actors, something that is used more than once in this production. The layout of the stage is shown below:

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  A single blue light comes up and the audience find Roderigo and Iago rushing onto the stage. Their faces are white and Iago is making very un-comfortable movements, showing he is on edge about something. A blue light is used to signify the cold and damp weather. The floor in the opening scene is made up of a sheet of tarpaulin lain across the floor, we can see it is wet, which suggests that is has been raining but this is all we are given to tell us where the play is taking ...

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