The Barter Players ENCORE Company to Present OTHELLO

The Barter Players ENCORE Company, will be performing William Shakespeare's "Othello" thanks to a grant from Shakespeare in American Communities and the National Endowment for the Arts. "Othello" will appear at Barter's Stage II beginning March 1.

The Barter Player's ENCORE Company is Barter Theatre's newest performance group, which is made up of Barter Players alumni. In the spring of 2015, the ENCORE Players performed "Hamlet" thanks to the same grant, which is allowing them to perform "Othello." Katy Brown, artistic director of the ENCORE Players and director of "Othello," said, "We had such an incredible response to 'Hamlet' last year and it's made us doubly excited to share 'Othello' with everyone. We had more than one audience member tell us it was the most connected they had ever felt to Shakespeare- as though it were about them."

Brown said, "Othello is such a surprising play- it's never what you expect it to be. Just when you think you have it pinned down, it slips away again. It's somehow as much about love as it is about betrayal or jealousy." With this in mind, The Barter Player ENCORE Company has created an experience to make this play easier to understand and appreciate. This production brings the play from the page to the stage and offers workshops for student performances using role-playing activities. These workshops will be held before and after student performances. Evening performances will not feature workshops, and are not adapted specifically for students, allowing adults to enjoy this classic Shakespeare play as well.

"Othello" features Terrance Jackson as Othello. Other performers include: Kelly Strand, Natalie Riegel, Julie Schroll, Sean Michael Flattery and Sam McCalla. This production is directed by Katy Brown.
The National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest presents Shakespeare in American Communities. Barter Theatre is one of 40 professional theater companies selected to participate in bringing the finest productions of Shakespeare to middle and high school students in communities across the United States. This is the 13th year of this national program, the largest tour of Shakespeare in American history.
Barter would like to issue a special thank you to Shakespeare in American Communities. Because of their generous support, the Barter will be able to offer assistance for schools/students that can demonstrate need. This includes bus and ticket subsidies.

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