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Desdemona (play)

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Desdemona
First edition
AuthorToni Morrison
LanguageEnglish
GenrePlay
PublisherOberon Books
Publication date
19 July 2012
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages64 pp (Paperback edition)
ISBN978-1-849-43389-1 (Paperback edition)
OCLC808600872

Desdemona is a play by Toni Morrison. It was first produced in Vienna in May 2011. The title character of the play is Desdemona, the wife of the title character in Shakespeare's Othello.[1] The 2011 play arose from a collaboration between Morrison, director Peter Sellars, and musician Rokia Traoré. About a decade earlier, Morrison and Sellars had disagreed about Shakespeare’s play, which Sellars detested but Morrison valued. They agreed that Sellars would stage “Othello” and Morrison would respond to in another way, resulting in her Desdemona.[2]

The play revolves around Desdemona's relationship with her mother's maid "Barbary." In Morrison's work, Barbary is envisioned as an African woman, suggested by the name "Barbary" being a reference to northern Africa (the "Barbary coast") in Shakespeare's day. This also gives Desdemona an emotional connection with African people dating back to her childhood.[3][4][5][6][7]

Morrison's play marks the third major play focusing on Shakespeare's Desdemona composed by a modern female playwright, following Desdemona: A Play about a Handkerchief (1993) by Paula Vogel, and Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) (1988) by Ann-Marie MacDonald. All three plays have highly divergent interpretations of the character of Desdemona.

The official playscript of Desdemona was published in 2012 by Oberon Books, with a foreword written by the director Peter Sellars.[8]

Performances

[edit]
A moment from the 2023 performance of the play at Cornell University featuring Rokia Traoré.
  • May 15, 17-21, 2011 - Theater Akzent - Vienna, Austria[9]
  • May 26–29, 2011 - Theatre Royal Flamand (KVS) - Brussels, Belgium[10]
  • October 13–21, 2011 - Nanterre-Amandiers theatre, Nanterre, France[11]
  • October 26–29, 2011 - Zellerbach Playhouse, Berkeley, United States[12]
  • November 2–3, 2011 - Rose Theater - New York, United States[13]
  • November 10–12, 2011 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele - Berlin, Germany[14]
  • July 2012 - Barbican Centre - London, England[15][16]
  • June 11–13, 2013 - Holland Festival, Amsterdam, the Netherlands[17]
  • November 2013 - Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts: School of Drama - Kingston, Jamaica
  • October 8–11, 2015 - UCLA's Freud Playhouse, Los Angeles, United States[18]
  • October 16–19, 2015 - Southbank Theatre, Melbourne, Australia[19]
  • April 16, 2019 - Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA [20]
  • October 27 - 28, 2023 - Kiplinger Theatre, Cornell University, NY[21]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Sciolino, Elaine (25 October 2011). "Toni Morrison's 'Desdemona' and Peter Sellars's 'Othello'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  2. ^ Sciolino, Elaine (25 October 2011). "'Desdemona' Talks Back to 'Othello'". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  3. ^ Barchfield, Jenny (14 October 2011). "Oppressed voices ring out in Morrison's 'Othello'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 30 October 2011.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ Swed, Mark (28 October 2011). "Music theater review: Peter Sellars' 'Desdemona' at Berkeley". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  5. ^ Winn, Steven (20 October 2011). "Toni Morrison adds twist to 'Desdemona'". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  6. ^ Serinus, Jason Victor (26 October 2011). "Desdemona's Riveting Multi-Dimensional Truths". Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  7. ^ Thiessen, Erin Russell (26 May 2011). "Toni Morrison's Desdemona delivers a haunting, powerful "re-membering"". Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  8. ^ Morrison, Toni (18 July 2012). Desdemona. Oberon Books. ISBN 9781849436359.
  9. ^ "Theater Akzent - Vienna, Austria".
  10. ^ "Theatre Royal Flamand (KVS) - Brussels, Belgium". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  11. ^ "Desdemona • Nanterre-Amandiers". www.nanterre-amandiers.com (in French). Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Zellerbach Playhouse, Berkeley, United States".
  13. ^ "Rose Theater - New York, United States".
  14. ^ "Haus der Berliner Festspiele - Berlin, Germany". Archived from the original on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  15. ^ "Barbicon Centre - London, England". Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  16. ^ "Year of Shakespeare: Desdemona - Blogging Shakespeare". Blogging Shakespeare. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  17. ^ PODIUMKUNSTENFESTIVAL, INTERNATIONAAL. "Programma 2018". www.hollandfestival.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Toni Morrison's 'Desdemona,' directed by Peter Sellars".
  19. ^ "Melbourne Festival 2015". Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  20. ^ https://www.facebook.com/events/356341841646325/ [user-generated source]
  21. ^ "Desdemona by Toni Morrison". Cornell University Department of Performing & Media Arts. 27 September 2023.
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