Breathing life into Shakespeare's Othello, transporting him from the page to the stage while challenging stereotypes about race and colour, is no easy task. Yet this is precisely what Second Age theatre company plans to do when it stages its innovative production of the Venetian tale of love, jealousy, prejudice and ultimate tragedy at the Tivoli Theatre, Dublin, next month.
Aimed primarily at Leaving Cert students - Othello is on the Leaving Cert course this year - Second Age's production is set to turn the compulsory text into compulsive theatre, something the company sees as its mission.
Second Age takes the view that if a Leaving Cert student sits on a bus for up to four-and-a-half hours to come and see a play, the production needs not only to entertain, but to inspire, stimulate and captivate, making those students want to experience theatre again. For many such students, after all, it's their first experience of theatre.
"If these students have a really good experience, we'll be helping to develop the next generation of theatre-goers," says Othello producer Siobhan Maguire. Without giving too much away, she says that the production is set to challenge its audience on issues of race and colour, as well as bringing the text to life.
"We need to address within ourselves how we feel about different races and this production will turn some of the old stereotypes on their heads," says Maguire.
Ozzie Jones, from Philadelphia, will direct Shakespeare's tale of racial prejudice in cosmopolitan Venice. But while the director is black, Second Age is breaking away from convention by casting a black Iago and a white Othello. Sticking closely to the text, the production also brings out the passionate and romantic side of Iago's character, which in many productions is glossed over in favour of the more villainous streak.
According to Bryan O'Donoghue, one of the founders of Second Age, it is the company's passion to introduce and inspire young people to theatre. "We want to make theatre magic for second-level students," he says.
Second Age weaves this "magic" by making the whole audience part of the set, by having the actors enter and exit the stage through the audience and by creating a background which makes the student feel he or she is in that place, whether it be ancient Greece or a Scottish forest. There will be a post-show discussion after all matinee performances.
Othello runs in the Tivoli Theatre, Dublin, for four weeks from November 6th to 29th, moves to the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, from December 1st to 5th and ends its run in the Cork Opera House from December 8th to 12th. Previews in Dublin start on November 3rd.
Education & Living in association with Second Age Theatre Company is offering Leaving Cert students 300 free tickets - 50 for each of the following performances - based on a first-come, first-served basis:
Dublin: Saturday, November 15th, at 8 p.m. and Monday, November 17th, at 1.30 p.m.
Galway: Monday, Decemeber 1st, at 1.30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Cork: Monday, December 8th, at 1.30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
To avail of this offer, send the attached coupon to: Second Age Theatre Company, 74 Dame Street, Dublin, by November 4th - phone (01) 679 8542. On the envelope write: Othello and prefered venue, date and time.
