Shakespeare in Action presents a theatrical production of otîhêw Métis-Cree re-imagining of Othello by PJ Prudat and directed by Lisa Nasson
This August, Shakespeare in Action returns to Memorial Park with otîhêw for their annual, free outdoor summer production. This reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Othello, is set in a north-western factory fort along the Saskatchewan river in 1816, the year of no summer, in which a volcanic eruption cast a smoke so thick the sun was not visible for months. The story takes place at the height of imperial trading that drove colonization over sovereign Indigenous lands. otîhêw, an affluent “child of the fur-trade”, is a Métis woman bound in the historical “custom-of-the-country” to Desmond, an Afro-Indigenous fur-trader, complicating her duty as the leader of her people.
Playwright PJ Prudat weaves together themes of duty, love, betrayal, and familial bonds in a poetic and powerful play that will both surprise audiences familiar with Othello and captivate audiences encountering the story for the first time.
FREE
Phone: (365) 275-5115
Email: producer@shakespeareinaction.org
2023/08/04 - 2023/08/20
Little Avenue Memorial Park
22 Little Ave, York, ON M9N 1K6
Street Parking and parking across the street behind the Shoppers Drugmart on Weston Road
Accessible entrance is from King Street Crescent