Othello
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Overview
A Northern Stage, HOME Manchester and Citizens Theatre co-production, in association with Royal & Derngate
OTHELLO
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Anthony Almeida
A secret marriage.
The brink of war.
Fact and fiction.
It’s not just black and white.
Fear, passion and paranoia bubble beneath the surface of Othello and Desdemona’s newlywed life.
Iago’s manipulations begin in whispers – and end in ruin.
Director Anthony Almeida’s new production looks afresh at this iconic tragedy – as much about love as it is about hate.
“Chaos is come again.”
British Sign Language interpretation by Clare Edwards
Audio Description by Louise Ainsley
If a performance is sold out, email info@northernstage.co.uk or call 0191 230 5151 to be added to our waiting list.
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Director’s quote
“Set within a 1980s landscape, this Othello examines how behaviour, love and identity are shaped under public scrutiny and private pressure. It’s a story as much about intimacy as it is about insecurity – and how one begins to erode the other.”
Anthony Almeida, Director
Cast
About the cast
Rebecca Banatvala: Emilia
Theatre credits include: Summerfolk (National Theatre); Autumn (Park Theatre); Northanger Abbey (Orange Tree, Bolton Octagon, SJT and TBTL); Sap (Roundabout, Soho Theatre, UK Tour); I F*cked You In My Spaceship (VAULT Festival); Much Ado About Nothing (RSC); Mrs Puntila and her Man Matti (Royal Lyceum Theatre); Rotterdam (UK Tour); The Three Musketeers (The Dukes) and Trident Moon (Finborough Theatre).
Television credits include: Vigil (BBC); Grace (ITV); The Syndicate (BBC); Love, Death & Robots (Netflix); Eastenders (BBC) and Emmerdale (ITV).
Film credits include: The Princess Switch 3 (Netflix); Prima Facie premiering at the London Film Festival & Toronto International Film Festival 2026.
Radio: Snares (BBC Radio 4).
Chris Garner: Brabantio
Theatre credits include: Macbeth Alone (National Tour); Calendar Girls (Frinton); War Horse (National Theatre); The School for Scandal (Bristol TF); The Country Girls, Antony and Cleopatra (Chichester); King Lear (Leeds Playhouse); 1984 (Northern Broadsides); Black Heart of Petty Malice (Soho, London); Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Hampstead Theatre); Henry VI Part 3 (RSC National and International tour).
Film and TV credits include: Coronation Street; In From The Side; The Children Act; The Hunt for Raoul Moat; Emmerdale; Mistresses; The Royal; Medics; Casualty; Rich Tea and Sympathy; Made in Heaven; Eastenders.
Radio credits: Home Front III; War of the Worlds; Windscale; Abel’s Law; The Radetsky March; If Not Now, When?; Hiawatha; Dear Little Burney; In a Summer Season; Going Clear; My Uncle Freddie.
Grace Hodgett Young: Bianca
Grace graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2023.
Credits include: Punch (UK Tour); Sunset Boulevard (Savoy Theatre/St James Theatre NYC); Hadestown (Lyric Theatre) and What It Feels Like For A Girl (BBC/HERA PICTURES).
Grace is the winner of The Stage 2024 Debut Awards ‘Best Performer in a Musical’ for her role as Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard.
Winner of the What’sOnStage 2024 Award for ‘Best Professional Debut’ for her performance in Sunset Boulevard.
2024 Olivier Award nominee for ‘Best Supporting Actress in a Musical’ for her performance in Sunset Boulevard.
Phoebe Smyth: Desdemona
Phoebe has recently graduated from LAMDA.
She is a founding member of Mycelium Theatre Company, with whom she co-devised and performed A Microscopic Odyssey at Theatre503 and the Golden Goose Theatre. Mycelium has since been invited to perform at Theatre Networking Talents Festival in Romania and Pleasance Courtyard at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
She has also starred in Frayed, a short film nominated at the Independent Shorts Awards.
Theatre whilst training includes: Romeo & Juliet; Liolà; 1972: The Future of Sex and New Labour.
Othello marks Phoebe’s professional stage debut.
Will Stanton: Cassio
Will trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
While his recent work has focused on screen, including an upcoming Disney+ production, returning to Shakespeare has been both a rewarding challenge and a reminder of why Will first fell in love with acting.
Originally from London and now based in Newcastle, Will is passionate about storytelling in all its forms.
Television credits include: Untitled Star Wars Project (Disney+).
Film credits include: Stargazers; The Candy Witch; Don’t Speak; The Gardener.
Othello marks Will’s professional stage debut.
Matthew Sys: Roderigo
Matthew Sys is an actor working across theatre, film and television.
Theatre credits include: 300el x 50el x 30el (FC Bergman); Speak! (Stand Up Tall Productions); A History of Everything (Ontroerend Goed/ Sidney Theatre Company); Audience (Ontroerend Goed); ATM or This is [not] New York (Sponsored by Nobody); Rennen (Kopergietery).
Television credits include: Hidden Assets (RTÉ); Under Fire (Netflix); Professor T (ITV); Blackout (VRT); A Good Year (VTM); 13 Commandments (Channel 4); Amigo’s (VTM); In Flanders Fields (VRT).
Film credits include: The Pod Generation; Ventoux; Marry Me; Little Black Spiders; Ben.
Maanuv Thiara: Iago
Maanuv trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Theatre includes: Eclipse (Chichester Minerva Theatre); Boys on the Verge of Tears (Soho Theatre- winner of Olivier Award – Achievement in Affiliate Theatre); Guards at the Taj (Orange Tree Theatre); The Cherry Orchard (Yard Theatre); The Father and the Assassin (National Theatre); Love N Stuff (Oldham Coliseum); Approaching Empty (KILN); The Funeral Director (Southwark Playhouse); Trojan Horse (Summerhall- Fringe First Winner); A Passage to India (Park Theatre), Hamlet (Harold Pinter Theatre); True Brits (UK tour); Twelfth Night (Orange Tree Theatre).
Television includes: Trigger Point (ITV); Under Salt Marsh (Sky); Generation Z (Channel 4); Prime Target (Apple); DI Ray (ITV- nominated for Best Actor RTS Awards); Landscapers (HBO); Ted Lasso (Apple); Brassic S3 (Sky); Line of Duty (BBC); The Boy with the Topknot (BBC).
Film includes: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
Audio includes: Peppa Pig; Mae Bee; Not the End of the World; Our Friends in the North; The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Dwane Walcott: Othello
Theatre credits include: Hot Wing King ANNA, Damned by Despair (National Theatre); A Streetcar Named Desire (Almeida/West End/BAM Theatre, NYC); Machinal (Almeida); Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe); Moonlight/Night School (Harold Pinter); One Night in Miami, Coriolanus (Donmar Warehouse); Henry V (Regent’s Park); The Iphigenia Quartet (Gate Theatre); Hamlet (Barbican); The Twits (Royal Court); Titus Andronicus, A Mad World, My Masters & Candide (RSC); Romeo and Juliet (Stafford Shakespeare Festival); Torque (Bush Theatre); The Fiddler & Life on the Stairs (Faith Drama Productions).
Television credits include: Saviour (ITV); Believe Me (ITV); A Town Called Malice (Sky Max); Enterprise (BBC); Into the Badlands (AMC); Our Girl (BBC); Doctors (BBC); and Tut (Spike).
Film credits include: The Thing with Feathers and Mindhorn (Scott Free/BBC Film).
Creatives
DIRECTOR: Anthony Almeida
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Ivan Hamshaw-Thomas
DESIGNER: Natasha Jenkins
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Jack Hathaway
SOUND DESIGNER & COMPOSER: Matthew Tuckey
VIDEO DESIGNER: Erin Guan
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR: Giaele Mattioli
CASTING DIRECTOR: Karishma Balani
COSTUME SUPERVISOR: Sara Mackenzie
DESIGN SUPPORT: Dominic Shah, Ben Austin
HAIR & MAKEUP ADVISOR: Jo-Anna Barton
COSTUME MAKERS: Lucy Minta Reeves, Katy Gardner, Philip Brown
Stage Management
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Suzie Normand
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: Pimlabhus Unhasuta
DEPUTY STAGE MANAGER: Robyn Clogg
STAGE MANAGER / COMPANY STAGE MANAGER FROM TOUR ONWARDS: Wesley Carter
TECHNICAL ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: Alexandra Ip Dos Santos
VIDEO PROGRAMMER AND ENGINEER: Jamie Waters
SOUND NO. 1: Alex Tate
RELIGHTER ON TOUR: Kevin Murphy
Education pack
Please click here to access our schools education pack.
There are two entrances to the theatre, Kings Road Entrance (this is the taxi drop-off/collection point) and the Main Entrance.
Both level entrances have automated doors. These lead into the foyer area where you will find the Restaurant, Bar, Box Office and entrances to Stages 1, 2 and 3.
STEP FREE ACCESS
Northern Stage is fully accessible. The theatre has three lifts providing access to all parts of the building, including the accessible toilets, baby changing facilities, stages 2 & 3 and the backstage area. Buggy parking is available
WHEELCHAIR SPACES
There are five wheelchair positions in Stage 1, two positions in Stage 2 and all seats are removeable in Stage 3.
TOILETS
We have a Changing Places toilet in the Stage 1 lobby and accessible toilets in Stage 3 and Stage 2 lower entrance lobby. Gender neutral toilets are situated in the Stage 2 lower entrance lobby.
HEARING ENHANCEMENT
Induction loop system in all public spaces, and an infra-red system in all three stages. (In Stage 1 the induction loop is best covered in rows E – L).
ASSISTANCE
One free ticket for the assistant of a disabled person who is not able to attend unaccompanied.
BOOKING COMPANION SEATING
To book a free ticket for a wheelchair companion or an assistant, contact our Box Office on 0191 230 5151, via email at boxoffice@northernstage.co.uk or by visiting our Box Office in person.
GUIDE DOGS
Guide, hearing and all working dogs are welcome here.
SEAT ACCESSIBILITY
Stage 1: Seats are 43 cm wide, 41cm deep, with 46cm between arm rests. The aisleway is 51cm deep from the seat back. Arm rests cannot be removed.
Stage 2: Seats are 40cm wide, 41cm deep. The aisleway is 64cm deep from the seat back. There are no arm rests.
Our seats are rated to British Standards at installation and are guaranteed to hold up to 110kg.
More Information
To discuss any access needs, take a look at our access page or please call our Box Office on 0191 230 5151.