Frantic Assembly’s award-winning and electrifying take on Shakespeare’s tragedy of paranoia, sex and murder, Othello, comes to The Lowry, Salford from Tuesday 15 – Saturday 19 November as part of its 2022 tour.
Michael Akinsulire will play Othello, Joe Layton will play Iago, and Chanel Waddock will play Desdemona,
Five members of the Othello cast and creative team are past graduates of Frantic Assembly’s Ignition programme including Associate Director David Gilbert, Co-Choreographer Perry Johnson, Joe Layton (Iago), Oliver Baines (Montano) and Felipe Pacheco (Roderigo), proving that Frantic Assembly is at the forefront of finding, developing, and providing opportunity for new talent from all over the UK.
Ignition is a free, nationwide talent development programme for young people aged 16- 24. It seeks out underrepresented talent in unexpected places, playing a vital role in dismantling barriers that can prevent fresh perspectives from revitalising the Arts. Ignition continues to transform lives, open doors and allows young people to reach beyond what they thought they were capable of.
Frantic Assembly Co-Founder and Artistic Director Scott Graham said: “It is wonderful to be able to take our work back out on tour, to connect and demonstrate the talent of this brilliant cast within a story that feels as urgent and thrilling as ever”.
Blisteringly relevant today, Othello exposes the tension, fear and insecurity buried beneath the veneer of our relationships and how easily that can be maliciously exploited. Lies and truths are blurred to create a poison paranoia that eats away from the inside, manipulating and destroying, turning a community upon itself.
Frantic Assembly takes Shakespeare’s muscular and beautiful text, combines its own bruising physicality, and presents an Othello firmly rooted in a volatile 21st century. This is a world of broken glass and broken promises, of poisonous manipulation and explosive violence. Othello’s passionate affair with Desdemona becomes the catalyst for jealousy, betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents.
Originally presented to great acclaim in 2008 and 2014, this updated version in co-production with Curve Theatre Leicester, will tour to Curve Leicester, Liverpool Playhouse, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Theatre Royal York, Yvonne Arnaud Guildford, Oxford Playhouse, The Lowry Salford Quays, MAST Mayflower Studios Southampton, Connaught Theatre, Worthing and the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre London.
The Lowry, Salford
Tuesday 15 – Saturday 19 November
