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Everyman’s OTHELLO is a hyper-intimate staging of the Shakespearean tragedy, on the heels of everyman’s successful debut production, ROMEO & JULIET, last August.

“RxJ” was staged at Vestido the Studio in Poblacion and “O” is the first play to be staged at SoFA. Using unexpected spaces is part of what everyman, founded in 2023, wants to be known for.

“I like working chamber, unconventional spaces,” explains director Carl Cariño with a grin. “everyman can do theatre everywhere. Theater is for everywhere and everyone.”

OTHELLO is the centerpiece of everyman’s 1st Performance Season and features a talented cast with Miguel Vasquez in the lead.

Other theatre veterans in the cast include Rachel Coates as Desdemona, Dean Rosen and Tarek el Tayech alternating as Iago, and Issa Litton as Emilia. A good number of others in the cast are members of everyman’s in-house ensemble, called GRID.

The tragedy is abridged, adapted, and directed by Cariño with a running time of just over 2 hours with intermission, short for a classical play.

Cariño says that brevity is part of making the relevance of straight plays and classical theater more accessible, especially to younger audiences.

Some viewers may be surprised that Cariño strips the tale of its racial and religious overtones.

“Perhaps if I was staging it elsewhere, in a place with more overt cultural diversity, I would do it differently. But here, in a Manila staging, I chose to hone in on the universal human elements of the play – the jealousy in particular and the way Iago uses his pure intellect for impure ends — and, of course, the love story that is the painful, awful core of this tale.”

everyman emphasizes clear sound as fundamental in its classical stagings, recognizing that if the audience cannot hear and understand the language, then all is lost.

Their hope is that the audience will be drawn, along with the chamber setting and stark but stylish design, to the clarity of  delivery and the beauty of Shakespeare’s poetry.

Production design centers around making the play feel like a black & white noir, costumes black against white background, awash amidst mostly white light. Set and costume design has the dystopic tone of a world newly rebuilding amidst the tragic foolishness of man.

Remaining Schedule:
Friday November 14, 3pm/7pm
Friday November 21, 7pm
Saturday November 22, 3pm/7pm
Sunday November 23, 3pm/7pm

Venue:
SoFA Design Institute, Rockwell Center, Makati City

Tickets:  https://tinyurl.com/everymanOTHELLO
For reservations, inquires or group/show purchases, contact:
gridpoints@everymanpresents.com
0916-432-0900 (Viber or SMS)
or 0917-191-5888 (SMS only)