Othello is still furious over the prospect that Cassio and Desdemona are lovers and he gets into a temper, which he lets out on Desdemona calling her a “whore” and a “devil”. Desdemona is shocked and upset because she doesn’t know what she has done to upset Othello, whom she much loves. Meanwhile Iago persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio, saying that if he does so Desdemona will sleep with him. Othello is then told the plan and he orders Desdemona to go and wait for him in his room while he goes for a walk around the city. Roderigo then fights Cassio, but Cassio manages to survive with wounds for his armour protects him. He proceeds in fighting Roderigo and leaves him with wounds. Othello hears Roderigo’s calls and thinking they are Cassio's returns to the Castle to kill Desdemona.
Iago angered by the fact that Roderigo did not managed to kill Cassio, kills Roderigo and sends Emilia to the castle with the bad news. While all this is happening Othello returns to his room, awakens Desdemona, and confronts her with all his superstitions of which she denies, and then strangles her. At this moment Emilia, then enters into the room with the news of Roderigo’s death, where she hears Desdemona’s shouts for help and last words “Falsely murdered”. Emilia then realises what has happened and her husband’s plot, she hastily explains to Othello but then Iago appears and stabs her to silence her. He then runs away but Othello has heard enough to know what happened and he realises he has being tricked by Iago, he orders his soldiers to capture him and he puts out an order for him to be tortured to death, they do so. Othello heart stricken then makes a final speech in which he passes a sentence on himself, and he commits suicide, he falls to death beside his much loved Desdemona.
Monday 26th May 2003
Living room
10am
Dear Diary,
Now that you know about the play I’m going to tell you more about the scene I will be directing. Lets start with the basic facts Act 3 scene 3 is from when Iago convinces Othello that there is something going on until the part where Othello asking Iago to kill Cassio. It is my opinion the best and most important part of the play that of course is because I am to be directing it.
During this scene Iago starts to really gain Othello’s trust, but for Othello by gaining trust of Iago he loses trust of everybody else, and his good reputation, which he worked so hard, to gain slowly slips away from him. By the end of the scene the only person who he really feels has any respect for him is the deceitful Iago. For he has complete control over Othello, yet Othello knows nothing of it. He withers Othello trust of Desdemona by saying thing such as “She did deceive her farther marrying you; and when she seemed to shake and fear your looks she loved them most”. By saying this Iago is suggesting that Desdemona has deceived people before and she can do a good job of hiding things she doesn’t want people to know about and that she can easily do it again.
After so called ‘suggesting’ to Othello that there is something going on between Cassio and Desdemona (therefore making Othello extra aware and cautious of the way Desdemona and Cassio are when they are around each other and how they speak of each other). He then goes on to say:
“My lord, I would I might entreat your honour to scan this thing no further; leave it to time: though it be fit that Cassio has his place, for sure, he fills it with great ability, yet if you please hold him off awhile, you shall by that perceive him and his means: Note if your lady strain his entertainment with any strong or vehement importunity; much will be seen in that.”
By saying this Iago is saying Lord, scan this no further though it may seem fit to give Cassio his job back, I ask you to restrain for a few days, you will then be able to see his intentions and make note if Desdemona asks for his entertainment for this will tell you much. Meaning that if Desdemona so much as asks for Cassio’s job back, as planned by Iago then it is clear there is something going on between her and Cassio. This comment gets the exact reaction Iago is hoping for from Othello, for Othello becomes distraught and begins to despair for he is deeply upset and he claims “I swear ‘tis better to be much abused than to know but a little”. Claiming that he’d rather know nothing about what he believes Desdemona and Cassio are getting up to behind his back then to know the little information he does. For Othello now has trust in Iago’s superstitions about Cassio and Desdemona and has become bitter and jealous (like Iago). He starts to doubt himself as he becomes more and more melancholy and depressed and he starts asking himself rhetorical questions such as “why did I ever marry?”
Iago then pretends to be very upset about Othello’s dreariness and puts on an act whereby he gets all upset within himself for being a ‘truthful’ man and voicing his pessimistic thoughts to Othello, he then has a false row with himself in front of Othello whereby he is shouting at himself:
“O grace! O heaven forgive me! Are you a man? Have you a soul or sense? ………. O wretched fool. That livest to make thine honesty a vice!”
Iago puts on this act to gain more of Othello’s trust, by saying he wish he didn’t say things how they where and tell the truth Othello’s going to trust in Iago for he wants someone who is going to be 100% truthful and tell him the way things are even if it hurts.
Although Othello now has full trust in Iago, he can’t quite believe that there is really something going on between Cassio and Desdemona and so he asks for some actual proof other then that of what Iago believes to be happening so Iago invents a dream sequence:
“I lay with Cassio lately; and being troubled with a raging tooth I could not sleep. There are some men who are so loose of soul, that in their sleeps they mutter their affairs: one of this kind is Cassio: In sleep I heard him say ‘sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our loves;’ and then sir would he gripe and wring my hand, cry ‘O sweet creature!’ and then kiss me hard, as if he pluck’d up kisses by the roots that grew upon my lips: then laid his leg over my thigh, and sigh’d, and kiss’d; and then cried ‘Cursed fate that give thee to the Moor!’
This was all to much for Othello to handle for him this was proof enough and he was in a state of sheer madness and anger, he was hurt and wounded so deeply, how could his beautiful Desdemona do this behind his back, and what about his trusty Lieutenant Cassio, how long had he (Othello) being tricked for. Othello voices his new feelings about his wife, whom he once adored he has had enough and states “I’ll tear her to pieces”. This makes Iago yet more pleased, for he knows he is doing a good job of what he set out for.
He then goes on to anger Othello even more by telling him about Desdemona’s handkerchief that Othello gave her when they first got together:
“Have you not sometimes seen a handkerchief spotted with strawberries in your wife’s hand? ……Such a handkerchief I’m sure it was your wife’s-did I to-day see Cassio wipe his beard with”
Iago says this because he knows the importance of the handkerchief to Othello not only because it was the first present he gave Desdemona but also because it was once his mothers. This bit of information stretches Othello beyond all his limits he is heavily discombobulated and seeks revenge on Cassio and Desdemona, like Iago did on him. He wants the pair of them dead and he tells Iago this to which he replies “My friend is dead; (meaning Cassio) ‘tis done but let her (Desdemona) live.” This is Iago’s final test for he wants to be sure that Othello is going to kill the pair of them, Othello then gives Iago the promotion he has being waiting for all along saying: “Now art thou my lieutenant”, meaning now you are my lieutenant. This brings us to the end of the scene I’m to be directing, now all that is left for me to do is tell you a bit about the actors, who will be playing the parts of Cassio, Othello, Iago, Desdemona and Emilia.
To start of we have the talented Lamorna Jacobs of Falmouth playing the lead female role of the beautiful Desdemona and miss Linda Taylor of St Mawes to be playing Emilia. Both actresses have an extraordinary amount of talent and experience of the theatre.
Lamorna aged 23 has grown up in the theatre and has taken part in many performances and her talent has gained her many lead roles. She has preformed in some of the top west end performances that include Blood Brothers, Fame, My fair lady, Chitty, chitty bang, bang, and Cats. She is down in Cornwall for a few months to visit family and have a break from the busy London life.
Linda aged 25 is Cornish through and through she works as a teacher of Drama and Dance and is a familiar face at the Hall For Cornwall having preformed in many performances which include Swan Lake, A midsummer nights dream, The Nutcracker, Macbeth and Red Shoes.
The male actors in this scene include Carl Bunch, 27 as Iago, George Townsend, 26 as Cassio and Mitzah Namus, 28 as the male star playing Othello. All the actors are fairly new to the stage but show a lot of potential and we wish them luck with future performances. As yet all the lads have little experience with professional acting to record but are all keen to prove themselves and their acting ability in Othello.
Now that you know the actors if you excuse me I’m off to phone the set company to finish getting it all ready for our first rehearsals of the scene tomorrow.
Tuesday 27th May 2003
The Stars Restaurant – The Hall For Cornwall
10.15am
Dear Diary,
I can’t believe how well it’s all going, everyone has learnt the whole script, infact they almost are as good as me at remembering it, it’s like a miracle, usually in every theatre performance there is at least one person who doesn’t learn their lines until the last minute, but everyone seems so desperate to prove their ability that they have all completed the task I have set them. I can’t believe I’m writing this but before we have even completed the first day of rehearsals the group is ready to go on to perform the act on stage, this is so exciting it’s all happening so quickly. Anyway as you have seen I have drawn up the following programs for our rehearsals judging from the information I have gathered this morning.
As you can see not only do I have a rehearsal schedule to let people know what we are doing when, but I have also decided to include an actors timetable so that people know when they are and aren’t needed for practice’s this will avoids actors getting bored waiting for their turn. As you can see it will soon be time to run through the beginning of the play on stage for the first time, it’s going to take a long time to set everything up I only hope that everyone understands. I best be off to get everything ready.
Actors Timetable
Rehearsal Schedule
Tuesday 27th May 2003
Breakfast room
5pm
Dear Diary,
What a brilliant day everything has gone so well and all the actors are getting on together, it’s bliss. We have covered so much and got what we planed to get sorted, sorted, let me explain. We have the opening part of the scene a freeze frame where Desdemona is standing on stage looking as though she is talking with Cassio and Emilia is bent down cleaning the floor. This lasts for a few seconds before Othello and Iago enter the stage on a high up platform that resembles a bridge. As they enter Cassio exits the stage from the lower level, Iago then starts his scripted piece, meanwhile Othello heads down a spiral of stairs to the lower level where Desdemona and Emilia are. This act gives us the impression that Iago (due to the fact he is standing on the upper level) has control over everybody bellow him. Slowly Iago walks down the steps as Othello says his 1st line. They then continue in their conversation while Desdemona goes to sit down at a table with a book in her hands and Emilia continues sweeping the floor. This not only gives them something to do why they are waiting for their parts, it’s sets another boundary mark, so to speak. With Othello standing, Desdemona sitting down at a table and Emilia on the floor, it gives us (the audience) the impression that Othello has control of Desdemona, who herself has control of Emilia.
The act continues like this with Othello and Iago holding conversation with each other, and Desdemona and Emilia in their own positions. Until it is Desdemona’s time to speak when she shuts her book stands up and walks away from the table to where Othello is standing and starts her conversation with him. During this conversation Iago hovers in the background clearly listening into the conversation. When Desdemona calls Emilia, she responds immediately picking up her brushes and shuttering out after Desdemona.
Wednesday 28th May 2003
The Albert room
5.30 pm
Dear diary,
Another hard and tiring day being and gone, but a good one at that, the set arrived and all the actors where present at the right time, everything’s going so well it’s unbelievable one would think its magic. We started off where we left off yesterday having Desdemona and Emilia just left the stage and went up until Othello’s 1st major speech as planed and in the afternoon we ran through the whole scene so far ready for tomorrow and to see if there where any problems.
On Desdemona and Emilia’s exit Othello turns to where Desdemona has just exited the stage and says his 1st line “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again.”
Iago then speaks and Othello turns to him and listens they then hold conversation in this way until the end of this section where Othello says, “…if thou dost love me, show me thy thought.”
Thursday 29th May 2003
Dining room
5.05pm
Dear Diary,
What a day it took us hours to get the scene right today, but at least we have sorted it out now. The problem is that Othello and Iago both have much more to say in this act and they kept saying the wrong thing at the wrong time however they have finally managed to sort it out, between them.
It is all sorted so that Iago and Othello are in much the same positions as they where yesterday, standing in centre stage. They start of standing then when Iago says his line that begins with “Oh beware, my lord, of jealousy…” Othello makes his way to the table in upper Left stage where he sits down clutching his head in his hands, Iago follows but he stays standing until Othello says his next line “Oh misery!” Iago then goes to sit beside Othello and they continue their conversation in this way until Iago finishes off saying “….And happily repent.” Othello then stands up and bids Farewell to Iago who in turns stands up and says, “My lord, I take my leave.” He then walks towards the exit.
Friday 30th May 2003
Homeroom
6pm
Dear Diary,
Today we only practised a small bit but we practised it to perfection and we organised Iago’s re-entrance to the stage for the next bit of the scene, which we will learn tomorrow. The final rehearsal of the day, of all we have learnt so far went well and everything seems to be slotting together well, and amazingly all the actors are still at peace with each other.
We started off today’s major rehearsals with Iago about to exit the stage having said, “My lord, I take my leave.” As he turns to exit the stage Othello then says to himself “Why did I marry…” Iago then turns round returns to the table and speaks for a bit before once more leaving the stage at the left exit. Othello then stands up walks up and down and speaks to the audience.
Saturday 31st May 2003
The Long room
5.45 pm
Dear Diary,
Today we did some work from when Iago speaks to himself to the end of the scene; this is a very long piece of script so we are going to be working on it for the next couple of working days. We started off from where we left yesterday with Iago leaving the stage for the 2nd time and Othello speaking to the audience. From here Iago re-enters the stage on the right hand side without Othello knowing. When Othello finishes his speech he falls into a freeze frame on the left hand side of the stage meanwhile Iago steps forward and says his line, which he says to himself. Iago then falls silence as Othello once again speaks to the audience. Othello is then taken by surprise when Iago starts speaking to him, they then both wander to centre stage to continue their conversation together until such time as Othello says “Now, by yond marble heaven,” after saying these words he (Othello) then kneels down and speaks, once he has finished speaking Iago to kneels down beside Othello they stay kneeling until Iago finishes his speech, they then stand together and finish their conversation Until such time as Iago leaves the stage for the third and final time.
Monday 2nd June 2003
The Green room
5.15pm
Dear Diary,
Very good rehearsal we ran through the whole scene this evening it was brilliant and we did a lot of practising of the last part of the scene. The whole cast are very excited to have finished this scene, and cant wait to show Dave Lee Johnson and Sandy Davies tomorrow.
Tuesday 3rd June 2003
Front Room
5pm
Dear Diary,
Today we spent the whole day doing the final rehearsals of the scene it is now ready to go in with the rest of the play, which is being organised and directed, by Dave Lee Johnson and Sandy Davies. It feels so brilliant when everything works out and you know you where the one who worked things to be that way, I can’t believe what I have done, the scene is so effective and it looks so professional. The actors have being brilliant and put a 100% effort in at all times. Dave and Sandy came to see it today and they to are thrilled at how well the scene ties in with the rest of the play.
