February 1st, 2013

I'm excited to announce that I'll be playing the roles of Brabantio / Montano / Lodovico in Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival's upcoming educational tour of Othello (directed by HVSF Associate Artistic director Christopher V. Edwards.) 

Other cast members include: 

Jason Gray- Othello

Rivka Borek- Desdemona/Bianca

William Allgood- Iago

Jack Corcoran- Cassius

Gillian Wiggin- Emilia/Duke

Dylan Riley-MacArthur- Roderigo

Some details about the tour, courtesy of shakespeareinamericancommunities.org:

“As part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival will present a contemporary production of Othello specifically imagined for a teenage audience with a retelling of the story set in a modern-day military school. It will reach an anticipated audience of 22,000 students, including 10,000 underserved students, in 35 schools throughout the New York tri-state area. Jealousy, love, hate, anger, intolerance, secrets, and violence are universal themes that both the characters of Othello and today’s youth must grapple with. The set design will be minimal, contemporary, and urban; the performance will include modern-day costuming and current rock and hip-hop music. Othello will be staged with an eye toward accessibility, enabling a student audience to explore, experience, and engage Shakespeare through live performance. Following each production, the actors will interact with students in a post-performance discussion. Prior to the school tour production, the company's teaching artists will conduct workshops to familiarize students with the language of the play and teach the relevance of the text. The company will also develop a study guide to help teachers prepare students for the performance.”

Othello has always struck me as Shakespeare's most exciting tragedy. While I find it impossible to choose a favorite between Hamlet, King Lear and Othello, I can't deny that the plot of Othello always manages to keep the tension rising to an eventual boil. 

This will be my first Othello, and with three roles ranging from a cantankerous old senator to a battle ready Cypriot and a soft hearted Venetian, this show's sure to be a blast! Looking forward to working with Christopher and this wonderful cast to bring Shakespeare to life and relevance for tens of thousands of students. 

Othello is set to begin rehearsing in Mid February, 2013, and is scheduled to run until early May. 

Additional facts about the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival: 

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival is a professional regional theater that attracts audiences of up to 37,000 from the New York tri-state area and beyond. Since 1987, the company has produced over 40 Shakespeare and classical productions and has refined a unique playing style that virtually eliminates the use of props and scenery and focuses its energies on script, actors, and audience. The guiding principle of each performance is the emphasis on engagement, to employ a contemporary sensibility and clear delivery of language that will make the works of the Bard understandable and relevant to all audiences. Fifty miles north of Manhattan, the performances under an open-sided tent employ the magnificent panoramic views of the Hudson River as the plays’ three-dimensional backdrop.  In addition to summer productions, the Festival produces year-round education programs, including a fully-staged touring production, youth summer camp, and artists-in-residence program that together reach over 40,000 students annually from elementary school through college students. The Festival is committed to producing exceptional outdoor performances of Shakespeare and other classical playwrights, to bringing theater and acting opportunities to young people in the region, and to expanding the theatrical literacy of the next generation of actors and patrons in the Hudson Valley and beyond.