tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19238239.post2786496083784335529..comments2023-06-02T16:36:37.494+03:00Comments on Shakespeare Experience: Sir Salman's ShakespeareAlan K.Farrarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930353547190453742noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19238239.post-89523635192716403292007-08-25T10:33:00.000+03:002007-08-25T10:33:00.000+03:00In the UK there is a developing tradition of a nee...In the UK there is a developing tradition of a need for Jewish participation - or the show don't go on.<BR/>Not always as Shylock, frequently as director.<BR/>This tends to skew the show a bit away from what I see as its centre.<BR/>The same, I'm afraid, with casting 'black' Othellos - although some actors really do give insightful performances (Willard White for one) - I see it more a reflection of the need for realism engendered by film than 'social necessity'.Alan K.Farrarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12930353547190453742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19238239.post-76770789194867392522007-08-24T00:44:00.000+03:002007-08-24T00:44:00.000+03:00Of course, as far as I know, there has never been ...Of course, as far as I know, there has never been in the past, nor now, a tradition of casting Jewish actors as Shylock (indeed, a lot of Jewish actors are reluctant to play the role) while we moderns typically cast black actors as Othello.Ian Thalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15348768867561450314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19238239.post-18503474845554440862007-08-23T08:30:00.000+03:002007-08-23T08:30:00.000+03:00I'm not ignoring your comments - just letting them...I'm not ignoring your comments - just letting them stew for a while.<BR/>Last night I endured the recent film Othello - I wasn't convinced (more in a full post).<BR/>Re race - I think the Merchant is too 'stuck' in the race aspect (which gets me into trouble on various boards)...Alan K.Farrarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12930353547190453742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19238239.post-4039953719915356692007-08-21T16:06:00.000+03:002007-08-21T16:06:00.000+03:00This is an interesting reading both of Othello, th...This is an interesting reading both of <I>Othello</I>, the play, and of Othello, the character. Is there another play by Shakespeare that our contemporaries cast in such racially stark terms?<BR/><BR/>A few years ago, I was telling a friend of mine about a production I had just seen, and his response was that he can no longer watch the play on the count that in every production he is asked to feel sympathy for Othello, even though, just like Iago, he is an egotist who feels justified to use and destroy people (and women in particular) as if they are commodities.<BR/><BR/>I have also been wondering recently about the current fashion (at least in America) of casting an actor of Sub-Saharan African ancestry in the role when, as a Moor, Othello's family would have been of North African origin and so he would have been more likely of Arab or Berber origin (and of course, all those very different people would have looked "dark" to an Englishman) which seems to fit in with Rushdie's reading.Ian Thalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15348768867561450314noreply@blogger.com