Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Desdemona (play)

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Language
  
English

Media type
  
Print (Paperback)

Genre
  
Play

Country
  
United Kingdom

Publication date
  
19 July 2012

Originally published
  
19 July 2012

Publisher
  
Oberon Books

OCLC
  
808600872

Desdemona (play) t0gstaticcomimagesqtbnANd9GcTZtELbWG4BwTLnsb

Pages
  
64 pp (Paperback edition)

ISBN
  
978-1-849-43389-1 (Paperback edition)

Authors
  
Paula Vogel, Toni Morrison

Similar
  
Toni Morrison books, William Shakespeare books

Desdemona is a play by Toni Morrison. It was first produced in Vienna in May 2011. The title character of the play is Desdemona, the wife of the title character in Shakespeare's Othello. The 2011 play arose from a collaboration between Morrison, director Peter Sellars, and musician Rokia Traoré, and revolves around Desdemona's relationship with the African nurse who raised her.

It marks at least the third time a modern female playwright has written a play with Shakespeare's Desdemona as the main character. There is also Desdemona: A Play about a Handkerchief (1993) by Paula Vogel and Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) (1988) by Ann-Marie MacDonald. All three plays could be construed as feminist takes on Shakespeare, but otherwise have highly divergent interpretations of the character of Desdemona.

The official playscript of Desdemona was published in 2012 by Oberon Books, with a foreword written by the director Peter Sellars.

Performances

  • May 15, 17-21, 2011 - Theater Akzent - Vienna, Austria
  • May 26–29, 2011 - Theatre Royal Flamand (KVS) - Brussels, Belgium
  • October 13–21, 2011 - Nanterre-Amandiers theatre, Nanterre, France
  • October 26–29, 2011 - Zellerbach Playhouse, Berkeley, United States
  • November 2–3, 2011 - Rose Theater - New York, United States
  • November 10–12, 2011 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele - Berlin, Germany
  • July 2012 - Barbican Centre - London, England
  • June 11-13 2013 - Holland Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • November 2013 - Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts: School of Drama - Kingston, Jamaica
  • October 16–19, 2015 - Southbank Theatre, Melbourne, Australia
  • References

    Desdemona (play) Wikipedia