The Shakespeare Sessions
The Shakespeare Sessions
BBC Radio 3
Full Length Play: Othello
2 hour 1 minutes Posted Apr 21, 2020 at 3:35 am.
0:00
2:01:48
Download MP3
Show notes

Khalid Abdalla, Matthew Needham and Cassie Layton star in Shakespeare's tragedy. This version is staged in an imagined near future, in which a power-hungry Turkish president attempts an attack on Cyprus. The western forces rush to Cyprus' defence, under the command of the fearless General Othello. But can an Arab-born, Christian convert ever be truly accepted by the people he serves?

Adapted and directed for radio by Emma Harding

You can listen to Dr Islam Issa giving us a quick rundown of events in the 1600s that influenced the character of Othello, in your podcast feed.

And don't forget to check out Looking for the Moor, also in your podcast feed, which sees Hugh Quarshie explore Othello and ask if the play is racist.

Cast

Othello.....Khalid Abdalla

Iago.....Matthew Needham
Desdemona.....Cassie Layton
Cassio.....Max Bennett
Brabantio.....Neil McCaul
Roderigo.....Clive Hayward
Duke of Venice.....Jessica Turner
Montano.....Peter Polycarpou
Emilia.....Bettrys Jones
Lodovico.....Ian Conningham
Bianca.....Heather Craney
All other parts played by Sargon Yelda and Hasan Dixon