Who first performed Othello?

We know that the original Othello was Richard Burbage

Richard Burbage

He was the second son of his parents, followed by three younger sisters; Alice, Joane, and Ellen. His father brought Burbage to the theatre and had the greatest influence on his career. Being the son of a builder and owner of the first successful permanent playhouse gave him starting in the theatre world.

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Richard Burbage - Wikipedia

, Shakespeare's leading actor, who also created the roles of Hamlet and King Lear.

When was Othello first performed and for whom?

Othello was first performed by the King's Men at the court of King James I on November 1, 1604.

How was Othello originally performed?

Othello's first known performance was on November 1, 1604, at Whitehall Palace in London, when "the Kings Maiesties plaiers" performed "A Play in the Banketinge house at Whit Hall Called The Moor of Venis" attributed to "Shaxberd". It was staged on 2/ 30/1610 at the Globe Theatre, and at Oxford in 9/1610.

Who first published Othello?

This is the first edition of Othello, printed in 1622, around eighteen years after it was first written and performed. It was entered into the Stationers' Company Register on October 6, 1621 by Thomas Walkley, who then had it printed by Nicholas Okes.

When was Othello first played by a black man?

The first black actor to play many of William Shakespeare's leading roles, Ira Aldridge took 19th-century London by storm when in 1825 he performed Othello in the city's docklands.

Othello Act 1

Who was the first black actor to portray Othello?

Chiwetel Ejiofor. Mekhi Phifer. Distinguished black thespians have portrayed one of Shakespeare's most famed and widely depicted characters for years. But paving the way for those acting legends nearly 200 years ago was Ira Aldridge, the first black actor to breathe life into the Othello role.

When was Othello first performed?

The first recorded performance of Shakespeare's play Othello, the Moor of Venice, was on Hallowmas Day, November 1, 1604 (409 years before the launch date of this website).

When was Othello written and performed?

Date. Othello was likely written in 1604, after Hamlet and before King Lear. It was performed at court in Whitehall for King James I in November 1604, but may have been previously performed at the Globe.

Who played Othello in Shakespeare's time?

William C. Macready played Othello and Iago, as well as all of Shakespeare's other great creations. He was the first to pay specific attention to Othello's moorish garb. In the early 20th century the most acclaimed portrayal of Othello was by Paul Robeson, the distinguished actor and civil rights advocate.

How many times was Othello performed?

It ran for 296 performances, almost twice as long as any other Shakespearean play ever produced on Broadway.

Who originated the role of Othello?

17th-century portrait of the actor, Richard Burbage, probably the first man to play Othello. He played the part wearing black make-up and a wig made of black lamb's wool.

Who played Othello in blackface?

Reception. Olivier played Othello in blackface. He also adopted an exotic accent of his own invention, developed a special walk, and learned how to speak in a voice considerably deeper than his normal one.

Is Othello Elizabethan or Jacobean?

Othello was written after 1601 and before 1604 and was therefore created in the last years of Queen Elizabeth I's reign. It was then performed in the Jacobean Era (James I). It is seen as a Jacobean play yet clearly the context in which it was conceived was Elizabethan.

Why did William Shakespeare wrote Othello?

So what actually inspired Shakespeare into writing Othello? Shakespeare was a chronicle at that time and Venice was an important trading post and link between Europe and the East. That's why Shakespeare may have chosen to set the play in Venice.

Was Othello a black man?

Although Othello is a Moor, and although we often assume he is from Africa, he never names his birthplace in the play. In Shakespeare's time, Moors could be from Africa, but they could also be from the Middle East, or even Spain. American actor John Edward McCullough as Othello in 1878.

Can a white actor play Othello?

Racial prejudice has allowed white actors to play Othello well into the 20th century. David Harewood discusses Larry Olivier's performance in 1964.

Did Paul Robeson ever play Othello?

Under the direction of Margaret Webster, Robeson became the first African American to be cast as Othello in a major production in the United States, and the first Black actor to perform the role since Ira Aldridge in the 19th century.

When did Robeson play Othello?

The American actor Paul Robeson (1898–1976) played the title role of Othello, with Uta Hagen as Desdemona, in the Theatre Guild production in New York in 1943–44. It became the longest running Shakespeare play in the history of Broadway.

What is Shakespeare's longest play?

The longest play is Hamlet, which is the only Shakespeare play with more than thirty thousand words, and the shortest is The Comedy of Errors, which is the only play with fewer than fifteen thousand words. Shakespeare's 37 plays have an average word count of 22.6 thousand words per play.

What century is Othello written?

William Shakespeare, possibly the most well-known English playwright, wrote and acted in plays in the late 16th and early 17th century England. Othello, one of Shakespeare's later plays, was likely written in or around 1603.

Is Othello a real story?

That Othello and Desdemona, whose real name was Palma, really existed, is clearly proved. Even the mad jealousy of Othello is historical. It is true that he did not murder his wife, but he often beat her cruelly.

When was Othello made?

Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story 'Un Capitano Moro' ('A Moorish Captain') by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565.

Who was the first actress on the English stage?

The first female actress on the English stage was Margaret Hughes (1630 - 1719) playing Desdemona in 1660. Other great early actresses include Nell Gwynne, Anne Bracegirdle and Elizabeth Barry.

Who was the first African American to play Othello with an all white cast?

His replacement; Ira Aldridge, a 26-year-old African American who broke the colour barrier for actors in early 19th century Britain.