# Three hour college production of Othello -- Or, shoot me now **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 23, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455 "2003-03-23T00:22:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/1 "2003-03-23T00:22:52Z")
A friend of mine is Desdemona tonight. I like supporting my friends as much as the next guy, but do I subject them to Shakespeare? And not just Shakespeare but Othello, Hamlet I could probally take, even King Lear might have been tolerable, but Othello… I think it’s best for everyone invloved if I get stoned beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![truthbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@truthbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthbot)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/2 "2003-03-23T01:40:30Z")
It’s very noble of you to support your friend. May Jack Daniels lend you the strength to persevere, cainxinth. I have a daughter that ham-fisted her way through two years(!) of violin lessons. I still have a twitch to this very day. Grin and bear it!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/3 "2003-03-23T19:44:49Z")
Threadjacking a bit here- I’m trying to remember the name of a play I saw a few years ago- it’s the story of Othello as seen by the female characters. It’s… Well, rather racy. And it didn’t help that the production I saw of it starred a co-worker of mine that I was already very smitten for… Does anyone know what the name of the play is/ was? ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/4 "2003-03-23T20:15:25Z")
Hmmmmm…are you thinking of _Desdemona,_ by Paula Vogel? I’ve heard of it, though not seen it, and it sounds like the one you’re talking about… Oh, and Shakespeare is an experience to be loved, not _subjected_ to. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/5 "2003-03-23T20:21:05Z")
Here here! A person after my own heart! 🙂 Besides, who couldn’t love “Romeo and Ethyl the Pirate’s Daughter” ? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/6 "2003-03-23T20:23:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArrrMatey \* > \*\*Threadjacking a bit here- I’m trying to remember the name of a play I saw a few years ago- it’s the story of Othello as seen by the female characters. It’s… Well, rather racy. And it didn’t help that the production I saw of it starred a co-worker of mine that I was already very smitten for… > Does anyone know what the name of the play is/ was? \*\* Was it _Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet_? ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/7 "2003-03-23T20:33:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Katisha \* > \*\*Hmmmmm…are you thinking of _Desdemona,_ by Paula Vogel? I’ve heard of it, though not seen it, and it sounds like the one you’re talking about… > > Oh, and Shakespeare is an experience to be loved, not _subjected_ to. 😉 \*\* Yep, that’s the one (just google-searched it). Really interresting play. And hey, since I may be going down there sometime this summer, know of any good Shakespeare in St. Louis? ---
**Author:** ![Fairy\_Princess\_Kitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fairy\_Princess\_Kitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fairy_Princess_Kitty)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/8 "2003-03-23T21:33:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Katisha \* > \*\*Oh, and Shakespeare is an experience to be loved, not _subjected_ to. 😉 \*\* I adore Shakespeare, love reading the plays, acting them, watching them… but have you ever seen a college production of one of them? I used to think I couldn’t act, then I had to watch Othello at a local community college. It was quite an ego boost. The guy playing Othello had a total of three different arm motions that he repeated the entire time. It also didn’t help that they decided to use the original text while modernizing the costumes. Hearing shakespeare and seeing Desdemona in hip hugging jeans and belly shirts is just disconcerting, not to mention that most of the guys were in camo. Kitty ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/9 "2003-03-23T21:45:20Z")
This production was decent, but by the third hour all I could think about was, “get me to a brewery.” My friend did a fine job, and everyone else was good too. The student playing Iago though, stole the show. I had to compliment him afterwards, he really brough the character to life. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/10 "2003-03-23T22:19:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fairy Princess Kitty \* > \*\*I adore Shakespeare, love reading the plays, acting them, watching them… but have you ever seen a college production of one of them? > I used to think I couldn’t act, then I had to watch Othello at a local community college. It was quite an ego boost. > The guy playing Othello had a total of three different arm motions that he repeated the entire time. It also didn’t help that they decided to use the original text while modernizing the costumes. Hearing shakespeare and seeing Desdemona in hip hugging jeans and belly shirts is just disconcerting, not to mention that most of the guys were in camo. > > Kitty \*\* Heh. Guess it depends on the college. The community college by me does really good Shakespeare productions. Inspired me to take an ‘acting Shakespeare’ class there, and I figured out why the productions were so good; the director that does the Shakespeare shows is -fantastic-. She really brings out the talent in everyone she works with, and has a very contageous ammount of energy. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-hour-college-production-of-othello-or-shoot-me-now/163455/11 "2003-03-24T01:22:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArrrMatey \* > \*\*And hey, since I may be going down there sometime this summer, know of any good Shakespeare in St. Louis? \*\* Well, I’m new to the area, but I do know that there’s an outdoor production in Forest Park every summer – this year’s is _Macbeth._ A couple of my colleagues (I’m a grad student in English at Saint Louis University) are giving lectures on the play and its context. I’m hoping this sort of thing lies in my future… 😉 There’s also a group called [St. Louis Shakespeare](http://www.stlshakespeare.org/); I’ve only seen one production there, a rather bad _Hamlet._ However, I’m thinking I’ll take another chance on them because they’re staging _2 Henry IV_ this summer, which is a terrific if underrated play, and I’m following the advice of the prof I work for, namely to avoid them for major plays, but go and see the lesser-done stuff. (And 2H4 is the only one of the histories I’ve never seen onstage.) And yeah, not all college Shakespeare is bad. I’ve seen some that’s great, and some that sucked. And Iago pretty much _always_ steals the show. 😉