OLIVER Award-winning actress Sharon D Clarke will play Othello in a reimagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy at the RSC in Stratford.
Marking her RSC debut, Clarke takes up the titular role in the Bard’s tale of shattered passion, revenge and psychological warfare, playing in the Swan Theatre from February 13 to April 3.
Set in a climate-threatened future in which a black lesbian holds a seat of power, it promises a movement and music-infused production, directed by Monique Touko.
It re-imagines Shakespeare’s 400-year-old story through the lens of misogynoir – a combination of anti-Black racism and misogyny directed at Black women – as an unsanctioned marriage perilously crosses boundaries of race, sex and status, allowing jealousy, suspicion and malign intent to close in.
The new season will also see Rufus Norris direct the world premiere of Brock’s Mill by RSC Writer-in-Residence Stewart Pringle, running at The Other Place from March 26 to May 8.
The family drama follows the story of Bernard, who – 40 years on from the heyday of his professional career as a stop-motion animator for Bluebell Studios – finds himself confronted with the reality of a past far removed from what he imagined.
A homage to the craft of stop-motion film making and an exploration of the corrosive power of nostalgia, with animation by award-winning stop-motion animator Astrid Goldsmith, Brock’s Mill investigates the ownership of memory and the importance of being present in one’s own life.
And another world premiwer will see a production of the The Bear and the Piano, based on David Litchfield’s beloved book, brought to The Other Place stage from December 11 to January 10.
It tells the heart-warming story in which a bear’s chance encounter with a piano deep in the forest takes him on an incredible journey to the big city to share his musical gifts with the world.
The co-production with Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, suitable for ages three and over, is brought to life through a wordless fusion of puppetry and music.
Visit rsc.org.uk for full details.
