Showing results by author "Oregon Shakespeare Festival" in All Categories

In Shakespeare’s most intimate tragedy, director Bill Rauch explores racism, religious bias, xenophobia, and the more disturbing aspects of relationships in the context of our society’s ongoing struggle with polarizing differences. Consumed by their bigotry, those who praised the Moorish general Othello’s military successes now reject his marriage to Desdemona. The newlyweds are determined to overcome all obstacles, but Othello’s assignment in an exotic new location draws them into the web of his lieutenant Iago, whose resentment and demons know no bounds.

Julius Caesar is a marked man. Adoring commoners celebrate his battlefield victories, but those higher up the Roman political ladder worry that his ambition has grown too large. On a stormy night full of alarming sights and ominous portents, Cassius persuades Caesar's friend Brutus to help him with a momentous task: assassinate Caesar for the good of the Republic. But death doesn't stop Caesar, whose spirit haunts the destinies of his friends and enemies, threatening the republican ideal for which they murdered him.