Othello

This production is something more than a first among equals with the notes, photographs, and essays that frame its text. The excellent selection of speeches and scenes, by readers who range from Edwin Booth (recorded by Edison in 1890) to Paul Robson to John Kani in Janet Suzman's memorable 1987 South African production, provides historical and critical perspective on Shakespeare's play. By coupling different actors' interpretations of key speeches, the excerpts highlight the unique features that make this play so enduring, provocative, and mysterious. This series' format offers an excellent companion for first-time readers and their teachers, but seasoned readers and theatergoers will also find the opportunity to re-experience the play with depth, clarity, and a richness of perspective. D.W. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

April 3, 1995
More than a retelling, this aptly termed "reconceptualization" provocatively modernizes Shakespeare's play. As in the original, the middle-aged general Othello the ``moor'' and young European noblewoman Desdemona fall in love and marry secretly. But Lester (To Be a Slave; John Henry) transplants the action from Venice and Cyprus to Elizabethan England and turns Iago and Emily into Africans like Othello, so that the three of them share a distinctly non-European point of view. Iago's envy of Othello and ability to whip him into a jealous rage at Desdemona are thus cast in a new light, though the tragic outcome remains the same. While the ending feels abrupt, Lester's novel succeeds in holding up a mirror to contemporary society. Phrases and passages directly based on Shakespeare's language are printed in a different typeface, a device that may distract the reader but eases comparisons with the original work. Ages 8-12.