Othello — Queensland Theatre

Overview

More than four centuries since it was first written, William Shakespeare's Othello still simmers with potency and relevance, as a tragedy about a power struggle, personal turbulence, war, betrayal, envy and revenge always will. But in Jimi Bani and Jason Klarwein's hands, the Bard's classic should echo with particular force for Australian audiences — moving the story to the Torres Strait during World War II, and paying tribute to the 800 Torres Strait Islander men who volunteered to hep protect the country's northern tip in the process, will do that.

Staged by Queensland Theatre and treading the boards as part of this year's Brisbane Festival, this take on Othello also sees Bani step into the titular part. He plays Captain Othello — as the Imperial Japanese Navy heads towards Far North Queensland, and while his marriage to Desdemona (Emily Burton), the daughter of a cane farmer, is causing ripples. Cue the spurned Roderigo's (Matt McInally) scheming with the jealous Iago (Andrew Buchanan), all in a trilingual production spoken in Kala Lagaw Ya, Yumpla Tok and English.

Same tale, brand-new setting and context: that's the end result, which plays the Bille Brown Theatre from Saturday, September 10–Saturday, October 8.

Bani and Klarwein's version of Othello initially premiered at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair in 2021, and now makes its way to Brisbane for the first time.