NYTimes.com: "This time it’s “Othello,” now running at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in Greenwich Village. Mr. Sellars has updated Shakespeare’s tragedy of jealousy and revenge with cellphones, Blackberrys and wall monitors.
But Mr. Sellars needn’t have bothered with all the new technology. The play itself speaks to one of the most salient confusions of our time: the conflict between transparency and secrecy."
7 comments:
This article grabbed my attention with the fact that Sellers had decided to do an adaption with cellphones and blackberrys. That is the wonderful thing about a Shakepeare show, since in and of itself it can be so period, the storylines are so appropriate for modern audiences. Iago is a nery intriguuing character since he is so multidimensional, in the way his mind works. Because he is absolutely brilliant, even if he is evil and a full of malice. I love Othello and I would be really interested to see this version.
Wow, all I can say is that this article had some powerful stuff. I admit, the transitions into the author's general take on honesty had me a little flustered, and frustrated. I think the way he was describing privacy in terms of our government is a contradiction to it's purpose, which is to represent the people's opinions. Whether that is what it actually does or not, privacy is not up for debate unless information is being kept from the American people for our safety/it is information we do not need to know. We have the right to know almost everything that takes place. As for celebrity privacy, I can't exactly summarize my thoughts on that too briefly, but the part that struck me the most was his take on the David Letterman scandal. As a huge Letterman fan, I was very impressed by the way he handled the accusations, and took no notice of it. However, this quote caught my attention: “Take note, take note, O world: To be direct and honest is not safe.” During the play, when Iago recites this quote, he is pretending to be offended by Othello's accusations, and mocks him by apologizing for telling the truth. It struck me because it got me thinking whether Letterman's victimized confession was a bit of a ruse in order to regain the public's support. In which case, it was very well played, I suppose you have to fight fire with fire, so all the more power to Letterman. Overall, very interesting article.
Othello has always bothered me as a story because it is so easily fixed. You sit down all the characters, present the evidence, and point out that Iago is playing them for a fool.
This, however, is not the point. The point is that good people with simple flaws and desires are easily manipulated by what they want to see.
As Americans, we wanted to see weapons in Iraq, we wanted someone to blame for what was done to us. Many left-wingers decreed Obama their savior in the recent election, glossing over the fact that he never quite promised the level of liberalism they desired.
Shakespeare knew all this about human nature and knew it 400 years before Bush insinuated connection between Iraq and 911.
This article was very interesting because it connected theatre to actual events. The comparison between Othello (and it's dialogue of secrecy and transparency) and the new-found openness of the White House administration was a very well formed example of theatre commenting on real life events.
This article is absolutely fascinating. I love how the author not only made commentary on the play, but gave a perspective into the world we live in today, through the eyes of the play. I wish that the author had talked a little more about the production, but it seems that the show was really a bit if an excuse for the author to write this article. Nonetheless, the contextualization he gives is fantastic, and really makes me think about Othello, and our current political situation, in a different light. Iago is a character I really despised while reading Othello, but if I look at some real people in our world, and compare them to him, he doesn't seem so much of a caricature.
I'm not sure I see the real parallel between Obama and Iago. The comparison is an interesting way of examining the current social views on how information should be handled, but where Obama is a new president, Iago is a person secretly orchestrating the total downfall of someone who believes Iago to be a friend. The evil, lack of evil intentions just don't seem to run parallel to each other.
This article was very frustrating because it didn't actually say much about the show. It told a lot about Iago as a character, and then it started talking about politics. I think its great that the show has political meanings in it, but this show first opened in Europe, very far from the Obama administration, so the ties laid out in this article may not really be there. I had the pleasure of working with the Production Manager for this production over the summer at the Lincoln Center, and I would have liked to hear more about the actual show and their bed made out of forty something tv monitors, or some of the acting or sound effects, all of which were elaborately done.
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