When William Shakespeare wrote Othello, he based it on a 16th-century tale from Giraldi Cinthio's Hecatommithi. By translating and adapting Shakespeare's play, Olivier Saccomano and Nathalie Garraud continue this tradition of borrowing from other texts to bring something new to them. Their modern rereading of Othello only amplifies the power of a story so enigmatic that it remains open to various interpretations. This “variation for three actors” therefore focuses on three characters: Othello, the foreigner who belongs to Venice, the same way a ship or its cargo would; Iago, peerless rhetorician, an adviser to his friends and a seducer of his enemies; and Desdemona, who finds herself the object of the hatred of all those who accuse her of disobedience and insubordination. But by having the play revolve around the reality of the Venetian “system” rather than the psychology of the jealous Othello or the diabolical Iago, the writers choose to focus on the economic and political machine that made Venice the first capitalist power of the Mediterranean region. The figure of the foreigner, a foreigner in Venice, but above all a foreigner everywhere, takes on a new dimension in this play conceived as a travelling show. Standing as close as possible to the audience, in a small arena, the three actors play all the roles, reveal what's really at stakes here, and question our time thanks to the words of those mythical and immortal heroes.
Jean-François Perrier, April 2014
AN ITINERANT SHOW
The idea is simple: to offer a number of versatile shows, set up wherever they can be closest to a potential audience. The light set-ups and the quality of those shows are promises of an artistic decentralisation, a move towards what stands outside the Festival. During the Festival, Othello, Variation for three actors will be playing outside the walls, in the following locations: La Chartreuse in Villeneuve lez Avignon (July 9), l'Autre Scène du Grand Avigon in Vedène (10), Centre pénitentiaire du Pontet* (11), dealership BMW-MINI – Foch Automobile (12), community centre La Pastourelle Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon (13), Complexe socio-culturel de La Barbière (15), cultural centre Folard in Morière-lès-Avignon (16), sports complex Jean Galia in Rochefort-du-Gard (17), Festival Contre Courant CCAS Île de la Barthelasse (18), Éclat de Scène at the CLAEP of Rasteau (19), community centre of Saze (20), (room) Jacques Buravand in Boulbon (22), courtyard of the Vacqueyras castle (23), AFPA training centre in Pontet* (24), community centre of Roquemaure (25).
Distribution
Direction Nathalie Garraud
Adaptation Olivier Saccomano
Scenography Jean-François Garraud
Lighting Guillaume Tesson
Costumes Sarah Leterrier
With
Mitsou Doudeau, Cédric Michel, Conchita Paz
Production
Production du Zieu
Coproduction Théâtre du Beauvaisis Scène nationale de l'Oise en préfiguration, Le Safran Scène conventionnée (Amiens)
In partnership with Maison de la Culture d'Amiens, Scène nationale d'Évreux-Louviers, Théâtre Massalia – Friche Belle de Mai – Marseille, Le Bois de l'Aune, Aix-en-Provence, Institut Français du Maroc, EMCUE, Baghdad/Berlin, Zoukak, Beyrouth.