Gallery: Shakespeare Company at UCLA’s “Othello”
By Alyssa Dorn
Feb. 28, 2017 6:37 p.m.
In rehearsal, second-year theater student Daniel Kim, who plays Cassio, kneels to greet Desdemona. The Shakespeare Company’s artistic director and second-year theater student Kelsey Kato said the play is relevant to the UCLA community now because it compels its audiences to consider the tension, conflict, and violence that arise from a misunderstanding of “the other.”
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Iago, played by fourth-year theater student Will Block, stands on a chair during the revels celebrating the defeat of the Turks and attempts to convince Cassio to drink. Second-year theater student and artistic director Kelsey Kato said the play examines the human desire for power and control.
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Desdemona, played by second-year theater student Marie Osterman, and Othello, played by fourth-year theater student DJ Woullard, greet each other with a kiss shortly before Iago sets his schemes in motion to convince Othello of Desdemona’s nonexistent adultery.
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Emilia, who is Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s lady’s maid, portrayed by third-year world arts and cultures student Shayna Maci Warner, picks up the handkerchief Othello gifted to Desdemona. She decides to bring it to her husband Iago, who had asked her to steal it.
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Iago, played by fourth-year theater student Will Block, and Othello, played by fourth-year theater student DJ Woullard, kneel together and vow to kill Cassio, who Othello believes slept with Desdemona.
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Iago, played by fourth-year theater student Will Block, comforts Othello, who is played by fourth-year theater student DJ Woullard, while implying Desdemona’s guilt. The artistic director and second-year theater student Kelsey Kato said the play is a vital and relevant piece of theater for contemporary audiences in its foregrounding of racial tension, prejudices and stereotypes.
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Othello, played by fourth-year theater student DJ Woullard, reads a missive calling him back to Venice while Desdemona wonders about his change of mood in the background.
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Desdemona, played by second-year theater student Marie Osterman, prepares for bed and worries about Othello’s mental state and her own deathly premonitions.
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Emilia, played by third-year world arts and cultures student Shayna Maci Warner, explains to Desdemona that while adultery is usually bad, perhaps it could be forgiven in certain situations, such as an abusive relationship or if she might receive the world in return.
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Third-year theater student Maral Manesh portrays Bianca, a prostitute in love with Cassio who speaks out after being accused of conspiring in the attack on him.
(Alyssa Dorn/Daily Bruin)
Othello, played by fourth-year theater student DJ Woullard, presses a pillow over Desdemona’s face, attempting to kill her for her supposed adultery in the bed they shared.
