"Othello"

This is a story of burning love, jealousy, frustration, the innocence of youth, dirty politics, false rumors, the belittling of women, and toxic masculinity. What happens when Othello, a man of foreign origins who was not born into the elite, becomes the commander of the revered army and even wins the love of Desdemona, a beautiful and wealthy young woman?

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What happens when Military Adjutant Iago’s frustration and jealousy are focused on sabotaging Othello’s happiness and success? How does human weakness turn into a deadly poison that suffocates and wipes out all reason and all feelings of love? You’ll find the answers to all these questions and more at Malenky Theatre’s new production of Othello. 

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Malenky Theatre returns to the story of the most famous foreigner. Acclaimed actor Gil Frank steps into the shoes of Othello, the general in the service of Venice, opposite Dudu Niv’s treacherous Iago, in this tragedy fraught with larger-than-life characters and a plot revolving around a racist and crumbling society. It is a story of burning envy and love that remains as relevant today as it was 400 years ago when it was written. Ksenia Markuza joins the cast as the powerful Emilia, along with other newcomers to the theatre’s ensemble, promising graduates from the leading Beit Zvi and Nissan Nativ acting schools, such as Hadas Eyal as the beautiful Desdemona and Barak Friedman as the scapegoat Cassio.

According to the show’s producer and director Michael Teplitsky, “The tragic love story manages to inspire sympathy, even hundreds of years after it was written, and reminds us that all people sin sometimes in the varied complexities that are reflected by the various characters…The feeling of otherness that burns at the heart of this show and guides the plot is not unique to Othello, the foreigner in Venice, but rather is present in all our lives – those of us with a different accent, background, mentality, or skin color. At the same time, the play expresses the experience of the oppressed in wealthy, violent, crumbling Venice, with points that remind us of contemporary Israeli society – young, satiated generations who lack the passion of the founding generation that established the State of Israel. To a large extent, the play’s plot serves as a cautionary tale to us as a society.”