Othello and the perception of race within the cultural context of Czech and Slovak theatres

Abstract

This study in its current form has been inspired by the keynote lecture of Dr Christian M. Billing at the Brno Theatralia Conference in 2016 analysing two productions of Othello, one of them being the production of 2014 at the National Theatre Brno. He questioned the way scenography could raise issues of race and identity using common material signifiers such as props, costumes or theatre make-up. The presented study proposes a polemic with his conclusions based on an overview of the productions of Othello within the Czechoslovak context and suggests Czech and Slovak critics should pay more attention to the issues of race and identity with regards to productions of Othello.