OTHELLO, we know

On Tuesday, June 5, 2018 my enthusiasm to see OTHELLO at the Delacorte Theater in Central was moderate. “The most powerful and dangerous of Shakespeare’s masterpieces,” Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director opened on May 29, 2018. My long term association with Dr. Kim Hall, Barnard College has fueled my interest. There are several ways, methods of ticket procurement

·        Donate $500 or more for reserved season tickets

·        Digital Lottery; download Tx app

·        Taub Box Office Public Theater at Astor Place, 425 Lafayette Street, Manhattan

·        Central Park 12 noon Stand-by line distribution

·        Central Park 6pm Stand-by line distribution

None of these is easy; all arduous; all require giving up and entire day especially if you live in New Jersey. But this is not why OTHELLO is “dangerous.”

The Delacorte Theater is a twenty two minute walk from my apartment; it is across the street from the American Museum of Natural History. The Stand-by line on Tuesday, June 5^th curved along the park’s trail to where the lamppost read “8215,” indicating 82^nd street, 15 near the West side. A guy in orange pants with a saxophone, a music stand and a large tip basket bellowed an annoyingly eclectic set.  At the head of the Stand-by line the lovers of OTHELLO had been seated on blankets since 4:30pm. Picnic makers come at 6:30am for the daily 12 noon ticket distribution. The end of the line at 6:45pm was near a park bench, I sat.

At 6:45pm this Tuesday, my first attempt to see Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s direction of OTHELLO was underway. In my head I heard the audio announcing at street crossings, “WAIT, WAIT, WAIT.” The theatre Staff were monitoring the Line. They expected us to have an ID number for The Public Theater. This was easily obtained once they logged in you vital statistics, i.e. email address. Yes marketing is ubiquitous even (especially) for free events. The Line quickly moved forward as we all received tickets.

This open air theater space for the audience is gigantic so is the stage! The jets and helicopters fly noisily overhead. The gibbous moon competes with the stage lights directing our listening. The weather was clear and very cool. There were empty seats when the stage lights brightened on Brabantio, father of Desdemona (Heather Lind). The Playbill describes Santiago-Hudson’s “directorial mission is to see this mighty military man ---and newfound husband (Chukwudi Iwuji) from within so that we don’t walk all over Othello.” Is this what makes the tragedy “dangerous?” I left at the Intermission.

With resolve and longing to see the second half the morning stroll to Central Park began. Saturday, June 23^rd at 10:45am the Line curved along the park’s trail to where the lamppost read 8315, indicating 83^rd street, 15 near the West side. Emotions had been steeled from a rereading. That same saxophone guy was there. The friendly picnickers at the head of this Stand-by Line had arrived at 6:30am, 10:30am mid Line. I didn’t consider waiting. My decision to leave spoke of hopelessness.

Alas the next stroll, the next night was the last night, Sunday June 24, 2018 the final 8pm performance. The Stand-by Line circled further north than you can imagine. I arrived at 6:30pm, desperate to see the second half. The saxophone tunes were asking for tips. The picnickers grinned in forbearance and exchanged senseless banter. My Patron ID number is 1106474. I provided my email address and any and all other information required to describe my vital signs. At 7:30pm many Shakespeare lovers in Line defected. The Line slowly flowed forward.  At 8:00pm we heard the musical Overture. That Staff monitoring the Line had coached us to caution our hopefulness. Now they walked down the Line counting us.  We all thought, “He’s counting how many more tickets are needed.” Then suddenly with boisterous projection he said, “The Box Office is now closed. We have no more tickets for this the last performance of OTHELLO. Thank you for coming to The Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park. We are closed for three weeks. Twelfth Night opens on July 17^th.” The disappointed crowd of about fifty quickly dispersed. Except for me. Slowly my departure noticed that the voices of the production could be heard over the loud speakers nearer the Theatre entrance. Others were already sitting on a bench listening. When I joined them my attention was enhanced by the visual memory from my first watching earlier in this season. This seemed to be the thing to do, the proper denial of lost.

What is “dangerous” about OTHELLO is that when reading the play reading the footnotes is required. This frequent referencing is a necessary distraction in order to comprehend the numerous unfamiliar words and word usage. Other references that contribute understanding are knowledge of the history and culture of Venice. Seeing a performance provides a gestalt.

For Othello, the brutality of war versus the vulnerability to be in love was his danger. He frequently describes Iago as “honest” when Iago implies Desdemona as “false.” This is a vulnerability we share in our personal lives as we may receive “fake news” from commercial media and social media. We may even receive “fake news” from ‘friends.’ The ability to discern honest friendships is not an academic subject. This is the subject of one’s emotional IQ.  We are fluent in the medical immune system but who teaches us about how to develop our psychological immune system?

One of my seated comrades asked a Staffer would there be seating at the Intermission. She curtly replied that there would be no new admissions at the Intermission.  Another comrade reported that the forecast described a major rain storm approaching. A drop of rain touched my cheek.  Oh! Maybe some people will leave! The rain stopped. The rain started again. Others left the bench. I raised my arms up, “Why are you leaving?” Just then members of the audience themselves started leaving. I jumped up to the approaching rain fearing couple, “tickets?” The companions reached into their pockets producing their tickets. “These are good seats.” (Good seats?) Yippee! One for me and one for this stranger standing near me. We looked at our bounty and then at each other. We smiled and became fast friends. “We’re in!” But not until the Intermission. To not invoke suspicions we searched for a posted floor plan to facilitate a knowing our seats’ entrance. And they were good seats. We stayed till the end  .  .  . until the bed came up out of the floor.