A.R.T. Presents OSF's OTHELLO Directed By Bill Rauch

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Producer Diane Borger, announces the cast and creative team for Othello by William Shakespeare. The first Shakespeare production from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) to play the east coast, the acclaimed staging by award-winning director Bill Rauch begins previews Sunday, January 13; opens Friday, January 18; and closes Saturday, February 9, 2019 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, MA.

In Shakespeare's most intimate tragedy, director Bill Rauch (All the Way at the A.R.T./Broadway transfer, Fingersmith at the A.R.T.) explores society's polarizing struggles with difference. Consumed by their bigotry and xenophobia, those who praised the Moorish general Othello for his military successes now reject his marriage to Desdemona. The newlyweds are determined to overcome this resentment, but Othello's assignment in Cyprus draws them into the web of his lieutenant Iago, whose jealousy knows no bounds.

"All of Shakespeare's plays are 'for all time,' as the adage goes, but I do feel that this play is particularly resonant with the United States of America in the twenty-first century," says Rauch. "Othello illustrates society navigating difference and otherness in a way that is painfully relevant right now. Shakespeare created a portrait of societal constructs and the ways that they hurt the individual psyche and heart. As an undergrad at Harvard ('84) I had the absolute privilege of directing a couple of plays on the Loeb mainstage when I was becoming a director. Now, this is my third professional production at the A.R.T. The space, the institution, the audience, and the Greater Boston community hold great meaning for me personally. It's a great honor to be able to come back and share this work."

"Bill is a visionary director who has a gift for bringing clarity, relevance, and vitality to complex stories, as he did with the A.R.T.'s production of All the Way," says A.R.T.'s Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus. "I'm thrilled to welcome Bill back to Harvard and the A.R.T. with his production of Othello before he embarks on the next chapter of his professional career as Artistic Director of The Ronald O. Perelman Center for the Performing Arts at the World Trade Center."

Oregon press called the production "riveting," and "haunting and powerful...Rauch makes this telling of Othello feel intimate...(Chris) Butler is stunning as Othello, (Danforth) Comins (as Iago) again proves to be a master at bringing the words of the Bard vividly to life, and Alejandra Escalante is heartbreakingly superb as Desdemona."

OTHELLO CAST

• Chris Butler as Othello (three seasons at OSF that include Love's Labor's Lost, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Piano Lesson; 110 in the Shade on Broadway)
• Danforth Comins as Iago (fifteen seasons at OSF that include Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, and Hamlet; Macbeth at Chicago Shakespeare Theater)
• Derek Garza as Cassio and others (Romeo and Juliet at OSF and The Mecca Takes at Chicago Dramatists)
• Stephen Michael Spencer as Roderigo and others (four seasons at OSF that include Love's Labor's Lost and Julius Caesar; The Heart of Robin Hood at Mervish Productions)
• Alejandra Escalante as Desdemona (six seasons at OSF that include Love's Labor's Lost, The Tempest, and Romeo and Juliet; Sense and Sensibility at Guthrie Theater)
• Amy Kim Waschke as Emilia and others (four seasons at OSF that include Snow in Midsummer, Julius Caesar, The Winter's Tale, and The White Snake; The White Snake at Berkeley Repertory Theater, McCarter Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and others)
• Richard Howard as Brabantio and others (thirty seasons at OSF that include Love's Labor's Lost, Julius Caesar, Guys and Dolls, and The White Snake)
• Richard Elmore as Duke, Handyman, and others (thirty-four seasons at OSF that include Romeo and Juliet, Henry IV Part Two, All the Way, and The Great Society)
• Daniel José Molina as Lodovico, Second Senator, and others (five seasons at OSF that include Henry V, Love's Labor's Lost, and Henry IV, Parts One and Two; Fish in the Dark on Broadway)
• Neimah Djourabhi as Montano, Police Officer, and others (The Lake Effect at Geva Theatre Center and The Thieves at The Public Theater)
• Vilma Silva as Gratiana, First Senator, and others (twenty-four seasons at OSF that include Destiny of Desire, Love's Labor's Lost, King Lear, and The Merchant of Venice)
• Rainbow Dickerson as Bianca, Police Officer, and others (August: Osage County on Broadway and Another Kind of Hunger at Castillo Theater)

OTHELLO CREATIVE TEAM

• William Shakespeare, Playwright
• Bill Rauch, Director (Fingersmith at OSF and the A.R.T.; All the Way at the A.R.T. and on Broadway-2014 Tony, Drama Desk, and Elliot Norton Awards; seven world premieres and fifteen plays by Shakespeare in sixteen seasons as Artistic Director of OSF)
• Christopher Acebo, Scenic Designer (Fingersmith at OSF and the A.R.T.-2017 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Design, Large Theater; All the Way at the A.R.T. and on Broadway; thirteen seasons at OSF that include The Book of Will and Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles)
• Dede M. Ayite, Costume Designer (three seasons at OSF that include UniSon; Henry IV, Parts One and Two; and The Wiz; and Tell Hector I Miss Him and Marie & Rosetta at Atlantic Theater Company)
• Xavier Pierce, Lighting Designer (Shakespeare in Love at OSF and Harvey, Native Gardens, and Blythe Spirit at Guthrie Theater)
• Andre J. Pluess, Composer and Sound Designer (eleven seasons at OSF that include Love's Labor's Lost, The Odyssey, and Great Expectations, and Fingersmith at OSF and the A.R.T. 2017-Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Design, Large Theater)
• Tom Ontiveros, Projection Designer (Romeo and Juliet and Off the Rails at OSF; and The Exonerated at The Culture Project)

Production support for Othello is provided by Fay and Bill Shutzer and the Hutchins Family Foundation.

Tickets start at $25 and are available now online at americanrepertorytheater.org, by phone at 617.547.8300, and in person at the Loeb Drama Center Ticket Services Offices (64 Brattle Street, Cambridge). Discounts are available to Subscribers, Members, groups, students, seniors, Blue Star families, EBT card holders, and others.

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