OTHELLO
From Left to Right:
George Mayfield – Cassio / Brabantio / Lodovico / Officer
Gemma Larke – Desdemona / Bianca / Montano / Second Senator / Officer
Andrew Dennis – Othello / Clown / Gentleman
Julia Watson – Emilia / Roderigo / Gratiano / First Senator
Paul McCleary – Iago / Duke
Synopsis
Iago, a Venetian soldier and ensign, has been passed over for promotion by Othello, a Moor who has reached the pinnacle of his career: he is general of the Venetian army and has just secretly married Desdemona, daughter of an important statesman in Venice. Iago has determined to destroy Othello's happiness.
With the help of Roderigo, a rejected suitor of Desdemona, Iago wakes Brabantio, Desdemona's father, telling him of his daughter's marriage to Othello. Enraged, Brabantio appeals to the duke of Venice to punish Othello but the duke is preoccupied with a Turkish fleet heading for the island of Cyprus, a Venetian colony.
When Othello is sent from Venice to defend Cyprus from the Turks, Desdemona sails to join him, in the safekeeping of Iago and his wife, Emilia. A storm disperses the Turkish fleet, ending the threat to Cyprus, and Othello is quickly reunited with Desdemona on the island. Now, Iago begins to scheme in earnest. He gets Cassio, whom Othello promoted ahead of Iago, drunk while on duty, thereby prompting Othello to dismiss the dishonored Cassio from his service and make Iago his lieutenant. Then Iago goads Othello into believing that Desdemona is Cassio's lover.
Othello soon becomes obsessively jealous and willing to believe anything he is told about his innocent wife. Iago's final "proof" of Desdemona's infidelity revolves around the loss of a special handkerchief Othello had given her during their courtship. Iago, given the stolen handkerchief by Emilia, convinces Othello that Desdemona has given it to Cassio as a love token. When Desdemona cannot produce the handkerchief, Othello is certain she has been unfaithful and swears an oath of vengeance on his wife and Cassio. Othello's fury increases when officials from Venice recall him home and depute Cassio to rule Cyprus in his place. That evening, Othello orders Desdemona to await him alone in bed. As she prepares for sleep and fearing Othello's dark mood, she sings a wistful song taught to her about a maid who was forsaken by her lover.
In a scuffle in the dark, Cassio kills Roderigo and is wounded by Iago.
Othello murders Desdemona. A horrified Emilia enters, and Othello justifies himself, citing the handkerchief as proof. Recognizing the handkerchief as the one she stole for her husband, she is stunned and reveals Iago's guilt. Iago kills Emilia, is arrested, and is almost killed by Othello, who now understands the truth. Despite demands for an explanation of his treachery, Iago remains silent and is condemned to a tortuous death. Before Othello can be led away to face his justice, he stabs himself, and kisses Desdemona as he dies.
Actor Biographies
Paul McCleary worked as a foreign exchange dealer for The Bank Of America
before training at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. In a career spanning 30 years he has worked regularly with
The Royal Shakespeare Company, where his roles have included Young Gobbo in The Merchant Of Venice,
Verges in Much Ado About Nothing, and most recently Alonso in The Tempest – which toured
the U.S., Japan, and much of Europe. His many other Shakespeare credits include five productions of Hamlet and
three of Romeo and Juliet. All in all, he has appeared in sixteen different Shakespeare plays. Other
work in the last two years include: Waiting For Godot (Vladimir), The Weir (Jim), To Kill
A Mocking Bird (Atticus) and Krapp's Last Tape. Recent television and film credits include:
Calendar Girls, Max And Paddy's Road To Nowhere, and Outlaws. Paul has toured with the
Actors From The London Stage on three previous occasions: with Romeo and Juliet (1997),
All's Well That Ends Well (1999) and Much Ado About Nothing (2002). In January 2004 Paul
married his American actress wife Jill whom he met on the first of these AFTLS tours.
Andrew Dennis trained at Mountview Theatre Academy. His theatre credits
include Bouncers in the West End and on tour, Jeff Koons in the West End and on national
tour,
George Mayfield George studied Architectural History at Edinburgh University
and then trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He has played in theatres both nationally
and on international tours. His theatre credits include Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Septimus Hodge in
Arcadia, Elyot Chase in Private Lives, Bushy-Fitzwater in Richard II, Orlando in
As You Like It, Valentine in The Two Gentleman of Verona, Horatio in Hamlet, Sir Andrew
Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, Gerald in An Inspector Calls, Wagner in Dr. Faustas, James
in Dealing With Clair, Samuel Parris in The Crucible, Plume in The Recruiting Officer,
Sir Benjamin Backbite in The School For Scandal, and Lloyd in The King's New Clothes. George’s
film credits include Peter in Alone Together and George in Addiction. This is George's first
tour with the Actors From The London Stage.
Julia Watson has a degree in English and Drama. Her extensive theatre work
includes Dantons Death, Major Barbara (Jenny Hill), She Stoops to Conquer (Kate
Hardcastle), and Wild Honey (Sofya Yevgorovna) for the National Theatre. For the Sir Peter Hall Company,
she played Lady Chiltern in An Ideal Husband and most recently she appeared as Hester in The Deep Blue
Sea at Watford Palace Theatre and completed a national tour of Mums the Word. Her many television
appearances include several series of the popular sit-com Never the Twain, the Screen Two dramas Across
the Lake and The Yellow Wallpaper, an adaptation of the Charlotte Perkins Gilman novella, in which
she played Charlotte. On and off, for the past twenty years, she has played Dr. Baz Samuels in the long-running
BBC series Casualty. In 2003 she was nominated for a Grammy for her performance in Sir Harrison
Birtwistless The Woman and the Hare. In 2004 Julia edited two anthologies of prose and poetry for
Viking Penguin, Poems and Readings for Weddings and Poems and Readings for Funerals and has
just finished her third anthology, Poems and Readings for Christening and Naming Ceremonies that will
be published later this year. Julia has toured with Actors From The London Stage on two previous occasions:
with Twelfth Night (1987) and the Indonesia/Malaysia tour of A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1992,
sponsored by the British Council.
Gemma Larke trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and
was awarded the Stanley Thomas Johnson Scholarship. Her theatre credits include: The Merchant of Venice
in the RSC World Tour, Rosalind in As You Like It for the Northcott Theatre Exeter, Helena in A
Midsummer Night's Dream for Natural Perspectives, and Isabel in Measure For Measure at the National
Theater Studios. Most recently Gemma has played Yasmina the Cleaner in The Madness of George Dubya at
Guantanamo Bay Watch in the West End. This is Gemma's first tour with the Actors From The London Stage.