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From the 2011-2012 Season:
Desdemona, A Play About a Handkerchief
Playing July 08, 2011 to July 24, 2011
No preview performances
Megan Rose Houchins, Jaclyn Hoffman, Kelly Criss
by Paula Vogel
Late Night Show (11pm performances only) July 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23
8pm Industry Night Monday July 11
All tickets $15. General Admission Seating
In the tradition of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead comes this smart, sexy, funny behind-the-scenes take on Shakespeare’s Othello from Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel (The Baltimore Waltz, How I Learned to Drive). Desdemona’s frantic search for her infamous missing linen sparks Vogel’s search for what it means to be a woman. Struggling valiantly against class barriers, sexual repression and dirty laundry, can Desdemona chart her own course? Or will the forces of an inescapable dramatic narrative undermine her? Come find out!**Food not available for 11pm performances. Food IS available for Monday July 11 show.
Front Lobby bar open beforehand.
Lobby opens at 10pm (6:15pm Monday July 11)
House opens at 10:30pm (6:45pm July 11)**
Produced by Biscuits and Gravy in association with the Atlanta Shakespeare Company.
Desdemona, A Play About a Handkerchief is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
Read the Plot Synopsis
Having slept with Othello’s entire encampment, Desdemona revels in her bawdy tales of conquest. Her foils and rapt listeners are the other integral and re-imagined women of this Shakespeare tragedy: Emilia, Desdemona’s servant and the wife of Iago, and Bianca, now a majestic whore of Cyprus. The reluctantly loyal Emilia pesters Desdemona about a military promotion for her husband. Her motive, however, is that he leave her a wealthy widow, preferably sooner than later. Bianca, now a street-wise, yet painfully naive prostitute, visits Desdemona thinking she is a very good friend and fellow hooker (at least one night a week). Bianca thinks the worst when she soon discovers that Desdemona knows intimate details of the life of her lover, Cassio. Though Desdemona has never been intimate with Cassio, her life is soon in danger when her husband, Othello, also suspects her of infidelity.
Director's Notes
Directed by Curtis Krick
Show Information
Duration
90 minutes, no intermission
Show Roles
Megan Rose Houchins
Jaclyn Hoffman
Kelly Criss
Show Times
Bardometer Rating
How difficult is this Shakespearean play to grasp? On a scale of 1 to 10.What does rating this mean?
These are plays you may have read in high school or college. The plot is fairly uncomplicated, though some of the themes may be dense or dark. These plays may include supernatural elements, straight-forward politics, historical content or religious content. In these plays, there may also be bawdy language and certain adult situations. If we feel a show contains a plethora of Graphic Elizabethan Poetry (or is very bloody/violent/triggering) we will put that disclaimer in the blurb about the show.
Note for all plays: The performers of The Atlanta Shakespeare Company are specially trained to make Shakespeare?s text and intention clear, no matter the plot or the subject matter. They know precisely how to get to the emotional core of each line, each moment, each scene. We promise you will understand everything! Leave the heavy lifting to us!
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