Frantic Assembly's OTHELLO to Play Birmingham Rep, 12-15 November

Frantic Assembly's award-winning production of Shakespeare's OTHELLO comes to Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 12 to 15 November.

Frantic Assembly's OTHELLO explodes onto the stage with this electrifying take on Shakespeare's most brutal and gripping thriller-tragedy of paranoia, jealousy, sex and murder. Fusing a taut adaptation of the classic text with its trademark hard-hitting choreography, Frantic Assembly takes a scalpel to 21st century Britain, exposing prejudice, danger and fear.

Set in Yorkshire during the race riots of 2001, a time which saw terrible divisions and some unexpected alliances. Othello's passionate affair with Desdemona leaves him open to jealousy and attack - with devastating consequences. Violence is a way of life and reputation is everything.

Mark Ebulue, recently of the RSC and a former kickboxer, will play the title role. The role of Iago will be played by Steven Miller, known for his four-year stint as Lenny Lyons in Casualty (BBC TV), with Kirsty Oswald (The Judas Kiss, The Winter's Tale) as Desdemona.

Birmingham-born actor Barry Aird (Peaky Blinders BBC, The Shawshank Redemption, West End) will take on the roles of Brabantio and Ludovico, alongside Ryan Fletcher as Cassio, who has previously performed with Frantic Assembly in the hugely successful Beautiful Burnout (2010). Also joining the cast will be Leila Crerar and Richard James-Neale, who will reprise their roles from the original 2008 production as Emilia and Roderigo.

The production will be directed by Scott Graham, Artistic Director of Frantic Assembly, who won the TMA Award for Best Direction for the original production in 2008.

The highly renowned theatre company Frantic Assembly use their trademark choreography to combine physical movement, design, music and text. Their recent productions include The Believers and Dr Dee, and they are also movement directors on the critically acclaimed The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, winner of 7 Olivier Awards.

This production uses design by Laura Hopkins, lighting design by Natasha Chivers, sound design by Gareth Fry, soundtrack by Hybrid and additional choreography by Eddie Kay. Frantic Assembly's OTHELLO is a co-production with Theatre Royal Plymouth.

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