New Place Players Return To New York City With OTHELLO

After the long pandemic hiatus, NEW PLACE PLAYERS returns to New York City with a production of OTHELLO, directed by Craig Bacon, combining their signature original live chamber music, and acting which celebrates language, action, and deeply human storytelling. OTHELLO will play a limited engagement at Casa Clara (218 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010). Performances begin Wednesday, February 1, 2023 and continue through Saturday, February 25. Opening Night is Saturday, February 11 (7:30 p.m.). Tickets are $99, $79, $29 and are available at NewPlacePlayers.org.

OTHELLO will be performed for an intimate audience of fifty people in the round, immersed in a former foundry with a rich collection of statuary, featuring both skylights and balconies. As one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies, this production of OTHELLO will be a searing and intimate look at shame, manipulation, and the devastation it provokes.

It will bring New Place Player's signature dynamic interplay of music, Lecoq movement, swordplay, and language to a new level - with musicians and actors collaborating with one another to inspire an extraordinarily fresh take on Shakespeare's powerful and timeless story.

At the recent documentary film shoot at Casa Clara, the former foundry, Iago (Conor Hall) turned towards Othello (Eliott Johnson) and spoke the iconic line, "Beware my lord of jealousy". According to the director, Bacon, "In my line of vision just beyond Conor's doublet was Flavio Gaete, music director torturing a viola string into an anguished quiet moan. That intimate witnessing of actor and musician lies at the heart of our production and the aesthetic of New Place Players. Eclectic chairs line a beautiful room; the fourth wall is gone and we are in a shared magical space."

The production stars Elisa Alemparte (Danton's Dead, Film: Adam and the Water) as Bianca, Alanah Allen (Spite, Single Asian Female) as Desdemona, Matthew Appleby (Adam andthe Water), Matthew Dudley (Director of Voice and Speech at Terry Knickerbocker Studio) as Brabantio, Conor Andrew Hall as Iago, Helen Herbert (National Tour: A Christmas Carol) as Emilia, Matthew Iannone as Cassio, Eliott Johnson (Lombardi) as Othello, Rose Kanj (understudy), Topher Kielbasa as Lodovico, Nathan Krasner as Roderigo, Aaron McDaniel (Aquila Theater Co.) as Montano, and Ryan Joseph Swartz as the Duke of Venice.

The musicians include Anna Bikales (harpist), Flavio Gaete (music director, violist, composer & sound designer), and Daniel Keene (lutenist).

The production features scenic design by Shawn Lewis, costume design by Jennifer Paar, and lighting design by Ethan Steimal. General Management by Leah Michalos/Michalos Theatrical Management, publicity by Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR and marketing by Victoria Cairl/Table 7.

OTHELLO plays the following regular schedule through Saturday, February 25:

Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.

Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $99, $79, $29 and are now available online at www.NewPlacePlayers.org. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the venue a half hour prior to the performance.