Othello
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Overview
Lois Potter traces the acting tradition of Othello as it affected the playing of Othello, Desdemona, characters originally played by a white actor and a boy, respectively, and Iago. Potter examines the stage and screen versions of the play, including a full study of Paul Robeson's 1943 radical performance of the character, that reflect or challenge current views about race and gender.Author Biography: Lois Potter is Ned B. Allen Professor of English at the University of Delaware
Synopsis
The history of playing Othello, says Potter, is the history of a desire for a degree of identification between the hero and the role that might almost seem to rule out the need to act at all. She divides her history into the period before and after Paul Robeson. For the earlier period, she looks at Othello's, Desdemona's, and Iago's play and at alternative approaches in the modern age. For the latter, she considers white Othellos, casting 1960-97, and sex and soldiers at the end of the 20th century. Distributed in the US by Palgrave. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Booknews
The history of playing Othello, says Potter, is the history of a desire for a degree of identification between the hero and the role that might almost seem to rule out the need to act at all. She divides her history into the period before and after Paul Robeson. For the earlier period, she looks at Othello's, Desdemona's, and Iago's play and at alternative approaches in the modern age. For the latter, she considers white Othellos, casting 1960-97, and sex and soldiers at the end of the 20th century. Distributed in the US by Palgrave. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)