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THE NATURE OF LIGHT: LECTURE AND MEDITATION ON THE HIGH LINE

Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s High Line Plinth commission is focus of lecture and guided meditation on August 5 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Who: Tashi Chödrön, Donald S. Lopez Jr., Jungwon Kim
What: Lecture and guided meditation
Where: The High Line Spur, Thirtieth St. & Tenth Ave.
When: Wednesday, August 5, free with advance RSVP, 12:30
Why: “Art history, or history, human history, is a discover of all the objects that we’ve left behind,” Việtnamese artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen says in a video about his High Line Plinth commission, The Light That Shines Through the Universe. “The objects are trying to tell us a story. And I think that’s fascinating.”

Nguyen’s monumental twenty-seven-foot-high sandstone sculpture is fascinating, a tribute to two sixth-century Bamiyan Buddhas that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. It also recalls the attacks on the World Trade Center six months later.

On August 5 at 12:30, the High Line and the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art will present “The Nature of Light,” the latest monthly lecture and guided meditation that delves into The Light That Shines Through the Universe. Hosted by Rubin programs and communities ambassador Tashi Chödrön, the event will feature a talk by Donald S. Lopez Jr., professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies at the University of Michigan and author of Buddhism: A Journey through History, followed by a guided meditation led by Love Circle facilitator, Plum Village Tradition practitioner, writer, cultural worker, and Columbia director of graduate studies Jungwon Kim, who believes, “We must ritualize the healing, not the trauma.”

Admission is free with advance RSVP; The Light That Shines Through the Universe will remain on view through fall 2027. The series concludes October 10 with “Monuments to War,” featuring Monuments Lab deputy director Nico Rodriguez and Shambhala teacher Steve Clorfeine.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

REFLECTING ON HUDSON YARDS: STORM CUFF AND STEFAN FALKE LEAD PHOTO WALK

Stefan Falke will be part of Photoville tour at Hudson Yards (photo from Reflecting New York, © Stefan Falke)

Who: Storm Cuff, Stefan Falke
What: Photoville Summer Artist Walk: Hudson Yards
Where: Bella Abzug Park at Hudson Yards, 533 West Thirty-Fourth St.
When: Saturday, August 1, free with advance RSVP, 11:30 am
Why: The Photoville Summer Artist Walk series continues August 1 at 11:30 am with two photographers who hold a mirror up to New York City — in one case, literally. The hourlong tour, which begins in Bella Abzug Park at Hudson Yards, features Brooklyn-born multidisciplinary artist Storm Cuff and NYC-based German-American photographer Stefan Falke. Both participated in Photoville this year, Storm Cuff with Vehicle. The Chosen Ones, Falke with Reflecting New York.

“You need a very low aperture and a corresponding amount of light in order to produce a sharp image. Even the smallest movement of the handheld mirror is magnified in the camera; that’s just a mathematical phenomenon,” Falke says in the published Reflecting New York book, consisting of photos of him holding up a mirror at such locations as the Chrysler Building, Coney Island, the Roosevelt Island Tram, the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Park, the Empire State Building, and Hudson Yards.

Storm Cuff will be part of Photoville tour at Hudson Yards (photo from Vehicle. The Chosen Ones, © Storm Cuff)

“I hope it carries the weight of deliberateness. That nothing about it feels accidental. That even without my voice present, the work communicates that it was built with care, a responsibility to who it represents. I want it to retain clarity about who shaped it and why,” Storm Cuff told ColorBloc magazine about her photos of Black men and women around classic cars. “I hope it carries momentum. That it doesn’t feel static on a page and feels like part of something still moving. That someone younger might encounter it and feel permission, not just to admire it, but to build beyond it. When the work moves without me, it becomes a kind of ambassador. I want it to continue doing what it was built to do: propel and remind.”

Admission is free with advance RSVP to what should be a special event.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

THE CALL OF THE WILD: THE ODYSSEY OF FLACO THE OWL

New Penny Lane documentary details Flaco the owl’s unique New York City adventure

WILD INSIDE (Penny Lane, 2026)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Opens Friday, July 31
www.ifccenter.com

On February 2, 2023, an unexpected animal suddenly appeared on a Fifth Ave. sidewalk, becoming an instant sensation.

No, it wasn’t a groundhog looking for its shadow. It was a glorious Eurasian eagle-owl named Flaco, who had escaped from the Central Park Zoo after someone had cut a hole in his steel mesh cage. The thirteen-year-old bird captivated the city, the country, and the world for more than a year as he traversed Manhattan, adapting to his newfound freedom by learning how to survive on his own, unfazed by — or perhaps reveling in — the media attention and the dozens of owlers who tracked his every move with binoculars and high-powered cameras.

Documentarian Penny Lane shares the remarkable tale of Flaco in the gently warm and touching — and ravishingly dramatic — Wild Inside, making its world premiere at IFC Center on July 31. Incorporating crowd-sourced photos and videos, news reports, eyewitness accounts, cute animation, and expert opinions, Lane and editor Hannah Buck transform the adventure into a compelling narrative of love and loneliness, of obsession and desperation, an apt metaphor for who we are and what we want and need in the twenty-first century. Birder after birder projects their fears and desires onto Flaco and his journey, an odyssey that goes well beyond Free Willy territory.

“The first time I saw him, I felt protective of him,” Jacqueline Emery says.

“I felt his pain,” JP Borum, known as the Bunny Lady because she rescues rabbits in the park, explains.

“After little more than a week, people were relating to Flaco. They were identifying with him and seeing him as a hero,” David Barrett points out.

As these birders celebrate Flaco’s reinvigorated life, one expresses his concern. “I think I came to this story with an understanding of really the dangers owls face being in Manhattan. . . . There were a lot of people there that night the zoo almost got him that were excited that he got free, and I was just like, ‘No, he’s going to die,’” D. Bruce Yolton admits, referring to the zoo’s attempt to capture Flaco and bring him back to his previous enclosure, efforts they abandoned after a week.

Lane, an avid birder who has made such previous well-regarded nonfiction features as Hail Satan?, Our Nixon, and “Nuts!,” was drawn into the proceedings from the very beginning, when a friend, the first person to see Flaco outside his cage, texted her photos of Flaco the night he was discovered on the street. “It’s rare that a story just falls into my lap and is so immediately capable of demanding my full attention,” she notes in her director’s statement. “Flaco was writing his own story and the rest of us were just watching. And yes, we were watching!”

We were watching, and Wild Inside gives us the chance to watch yet again, this time much more up close and intimately. It’s impossible not to form an emotional bond with Flaco as Lane takes us from the zoo to the park, from the Lower East Side to the Upper West, as Flaco explores his burgeoning independence and searches for a companion, roosting on rooftop edges of tall buildings and hooting out love calls like they’re the Bat signal.

A tight-knit community forms around Flaco, including a man and a woman who get married. When Flaco disappears for a few days, people grow despondent. Sarah Bramwell became so involved that her family was concerned for her mental health. “I had been so worried about him. I mean, so worried, like a mother would be worried, right?” she concedes.

Even though owls are predators who are not often friendly or affectionate with humans, Flaco seems to be making a direct connection to his dedicated fans, as shown in two stunning scenes in which — well, to reveal more would spoil some of the many surprises the film has in store for viewers.

Lane also raises a key issue and a source of much disagreement: Would Flaco be better off back in the zoo, where most of his needs were met on a daily basis, or flying free in the wilds of Manhattan, where danger awaits around every corner? It’s a question many of us ask ourselves when we consider our lives, both personal and professional, whether we can or should take certain risks to find out who we truly are. We cannot watch Wild Inside and not internalize Flaco’s story ourselves; when it comes down to it, we are Flaco, and Flaco is us. We need Flaco — but does Flaco need us?

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it,” J. M. Barrie wrote in Peter Pan.

Flaco gives us all hope that one day, maybe, we can fly as well.

[Several screenings from July 31 to August 4 will be followed by Q&As with Lane, DOC NYC artistic director Jaie Laplante, and Emery and Lei as well as Village birdwatching tours. Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

FLY, ROBIN, FLY: THE LOVED ONES AT THE IRISH REP

Erica Murray’s The Loved Ones explores loss, grief, betrayal, and rebirth (photo by Carol Rosegg)

THE LOVED ONES
Irish Repertory Theatre, Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage
132 West 22nd St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Wednesday – Sunday through August 2, $55-$125
irishrep.org

Erica Murray’s The Loved Ones, making its New York City premiere at the Irish Rep through August 2, has a terrific setup. It takes place in an open-plan kitchen/living room in a farmhouse in the Irish countryside, where Nell (Maryann Plunkett) lives alone following the tragic loss of her son, Robin. Although she values her privacy, Nell is in for a crowded, complicated weekend. A young, pregnant Englishwoman, Gabby (Alana Raquel Bowers), has shown up with a suitcase and a backpack, claiming she is having Robin’s baby, explaining that she was one of his students at university. Nell doesn’t believe her son would have done such a thing.

“Well, I don’t know you, do I? You just landed in here and could be a psychopath for all I know. You could be someone who does this all the time, tricking vulnerable mothers with dead sons into giving you money,” Nell says. Gabby, who has not told her family about the baby, responds, “I’m sorry to be ruining your perfect memory of him, really I am, but it’s not like I had a lot of other options. This is his mess as much as it is mine, and since he’s not around to deal with it . . .”

Nell tries to convince Gabby to stay somewhere else, as Robin’s widow, Orla (Clare O’Malley), is on her way to spend a few days at the house, bringing the urn with her late husband’s ashes so they can honor the six-month anniversary of his death. But before Nell can get rid of Gabby, Orla arrives, and Nell and Gabby decide not to tell Orla anything about Gabby’s connection to Robin.

Also, in order to make some extra money, Nell has converted part of the house into an Airbnb, currently occupied by a chatty American tourist, Cheryl-Ann (Donna Lynne Champlin), who keeps notes for her online review and has a penchant for insinuating herself into situations.

But as the melodrama unfurled across two hours and fifteen minutes (with intermission), I found myself predicting far too many lines of dialogue and plot twists; the show began feeling more like a Lifetime movie than a classic Irish tale with dark humor, secrets, and mystery. Directed by Nicola Murphy Dubey (Irishtown, Belfast Girls), the play felt tired and uninvolving, the acting inconsistent.

There were a few unexpected turns that I relished, but in the end it was too little too late. Murray (The Cat’s Mother, All Mod Cons) uses birds as metaphors throughout the show. “Birds can do what we all wish we could do:fly. Nine point nine times out of ten, when you ask someone what they’d like to be reincarnated as, they say a bird so they can fly,” avian enthusiast Cheryl-Ann tells Gabby.

Unfortunately, The Loved Ones never takes off.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

NAMING NAMES: STIRRING REVIVAL TO CLOSE EARLY

Jason Babinsky, Michael McKean, and Adam Kantor play three HUAC committee members trying to root out communism in Hollywood in gripping docudrama (photo by Marc J. Franklin)

ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN
New York City Center Stage I
131 West 55th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Tuesday – Sunday through August 2, $199
areyounowplay.com
www.nycitycenter.org

An unexpectedly timely subject. An all-star cast. Few other major plays opening at the same time. A superb, well-reviewed production.

So what went wrong?

Anna D. Shapiro’s sparkling revival of Eric Bentley’s 1972 Are You Now or Have You Ever Been began previews at New York City Center Stage I on June 2 and was scheduled to run until September 11, but it recently announced it was closing early, on August 2. And that’s too bad, because it’s a gripping show that deserves a large audience. Maybe it never had a chance, billing itself as “An American Docudrama,” which sounds like something one would see on the History Channel. It could be that it attracted only older folks who are more familiar with the figures involved in serious events that shook the country in the late 1940s and 1950s. Maybe some people were turned off because the dialogue is taken verbatim from actual transcripts.

The play, the original full title of which is Are You Now or Have You Ever Been: The Investigations of Show-Business by the Un-American Activities Committee 1947–1958, takes place between 1947 and 1956, as the House Committee on Un-American Activities interviews Hollywood writers, actors, directors, and producers, grilling them on their ties to communism and the Soviet Union during the second Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism. The chairman (Michael McKean) and two aides (Jason Babinsky and Adam Kantor) famously ask each of them, “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?” and insist that they name names. Some were only too happy to turn in colleagues, either because they were trying to save their careers or were loyal to the cause — Sam G. Wood (Frederick Weller), Elia Kazan (Weller), and, in his follow-up appearance, Martin Berkeley (Brooks Ashmanskas, though I saw understudy Bill Timoney) — while others stood tall in the face of the questioning, defending their rights as American citizens to not succumb to the threats, some ridiculing the proceedings themselves.

When the chairman asks Abe Burrows (Norbert Leo Butz), “Would you call yourself a Communist?,” the playwright, director, and lyricist responds, “Not in my own heart, sir. But I’m here to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and there’s an element of truth in the statement that I was a Communist. There’s also an element of untruth.” The answer cost him the Pulitzer Prize for Guys and Dolls.

Lionel Stander (Bob Odenkirk) has some sharp words for HUAC in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been (photo by Marc J. Franklin)

“My conscience will not permit me to use the name of another person,” Arthur Miller (Weller) tells the committee in no uncertain terms, while Jerome Robbins (Steven Boyer), when asked why he risked being a Hollywood outcast by naming names, explains, “I did it according to my conscience.”

Lionel Stander (Bob Odenkirk) rejects the existence of the committee, arguing, “I have knowledge of subversive action! I know of a group of fanatics who are trying to undermine the Constitution of the United States by depriving artists of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without due process of law! I can cite instances! I can tell names. I am one of the first victims, if you are interested. A group of ex-Bundists, America Firsters, and anti-Semites, people who hate everybody, Negroes, minority groups, and most likely themselves —”

The sergeant-at-arms has to be called to remove Ring Lardner Jr. (Boyer) from the proceedings after he mocks the committee’s purpose. Smoking a cigarette, Lillian Hellman (Molly Ringwald) reads a brilliant statement on why she will talk to HUAC but not name names.

Paul Robeson (Harry Lennix) declares, “In 1946 I testified under oath I was not a member of the Communist Party. Since then I have refused to give testimony to that fact. There is no mystery in this. I have made it a matter of principle to refuse to comply with any demand that infringes upon the constitutional rights of all Americans.”

The most moving part of the show is the interrogation of Larry Parks (T. R. Knight), who was famous for having played Al Jolson in two films but whose career essentially ended after his testimony first in 1951, then in 1953. Emmy nominee Knight portrays Parks with a heartbreaking sincerity, squirming in his chair as he desperately tries to not name names, his voice and body trembling in fear. He believes that his flirtation with communism when he was younger was brief and irrelevant, skirting questions as the chairman attempts to break him.

“On naming names, it is my opinion that the few people I could name, these names would not be of service to the committee: I am sure you know who they are. These people are like myself, and I have done nothing wrong,” Parks insists. “I also feel that to be asked to name names like this is not American justice. We as Americans have all been brought up to believe it’s a bad thing to force a man to do this.”

Parks could be any one of us, in the 1950s or today.

In the past month, President Donald Trump has brought back the Red Scare, accusing many of those whose views deviate from his, especially but not limited to Democratic Socialists, of being communists.

“There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success. These are not mere political disagreements like differences over taxes or regulations. Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty,” Trump said in a July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore. “It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or even 9/11. Uh, we’re not gonna let this happen to us. Believe me, we’re not letting it happen. Because communism is the enemy of free people everywhere, everywhere in the world. Never works. It’s the enemy of the Constitution.”

One of Trump’s mentors was Roy Cohn, the lawyer who sat beside Joseph McCarthy as the Wisconsin senator went after communists and homosexuals in a series of public hearings on Capitol Hill.

“Where’s my Roy Cohn?” Trump asked during his first term when he was dissatisfied with several of his administration officials.

Lillian Hellman (Molly Ringwald) shares her thoughts on HUAC in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been (photo by Marc J. Franklin)

Skillfully directed by Anna D. Shapiro (Eureka Day, This Is Our Youth) as if it’s a political thriller with the very future of America at stake, Are You Now or Have You Ever Been makes the audience feel like they are in the chair, facing invasive and accusatory questions about their loyalty to a nation that is supposedly built on freedom. As each figure takes the stand, images of newspaper headlines are projected on a scrim, emphasizing the seriousness and immediacy of the situation. The three interlocutors sit stage left at an angle, while the subjects, once finished with their testimony, sit behind the scrim, as if reduced to shadows. The set is by Andrew Boyce, with sharp costumes by Johanna Pan, noirish lighting by Donald Holder, threatening sound by Milbo Music, and important projections by Brittany Bland.

The cast is outstanding, with Babinsky, Boyer, Kantor, Weller, and McKean in the regular ensemble and Butz, Knight, Lennix, Odenkirk, and Ringwald rotating in for the previous lineups of Billy Eugene Jones, David Krumholtz, Andrew McCarthy, Sally Murphy, and Jay O. Sanders and Jones, Scott Adsit, Sally Murphy, Ben Rappaport, and Thomas Sadoski. Unfortunately, Santino Fontana, Steven Pasquale, and others won’t get the chance to testify.

Winner of an Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement, Bentley (The Red, White, and Black; Good Woman of Setzuan), a British-born longtime New Yorker who was a theater critic for The New Republic, taught at Harvard, extensively translated works by Bertolt Brecht, and died in 2020 at the age of 103, captured the zeitgeist of the time in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, a question that could now end with more than just “a member of the Communist Party.” The powerful play puts you in the chair, wondering what you would do if asked, under oath by an out-of-control administration, about your political beliefs.

So, again, what went wrong?

Brecht famously wrote, “The one tribute we can pay the audience is to treat it as thoroughly intelligent.”

Perhaps, in this case, it all hits too close to home, and it’s all too real for a swift summer entertainment.

And that’s a genuine shame.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]

A CURE FOR WHAT AILS YOU: A POISONOUS GIULIA AT PAC NYC

Jennifer Nettles wrote the book, music and lyrics for Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo and stars as the title character (photo by Andy Henderson)

GIULIA: THE POISON QUEEN OF PALERMO
Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC)
251 Fulton St.
Tuesday – Sunday through August 2, $88-$226
pacnyc.org

Jennifer Nettles’s Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo is a cleverly staged, rousing feminist fantasia about shame and sin, hypocrisy and justice, faith and grrl power. It’s a tasty concoction filled with fantastic period costumes and a beguiling set, playful choreography and soaring orchestrations, and far too many clichés and anachronisms; it will need significant work before achieving its Broadway aspirations, but in the meantime it is thrilling audiences at PAC NYC through August 2.

Nettles, a multiple Grammy and Country Music Association award winner, is a singer-songwriter, actress, and producer who has released such solo records as That Girl and a half-dozen albums as part of the duo Sugarland, starred on Broadway in Waitress and Chicago, and has appeared in such streaming series as The Righteous Gemstones and The Bondsman in addition to two Dolly Parton television biopics. Inspired by the story of seventeenth-century Italian apothecary and cosmetician Giulia Tofana, Nettles wrote the book, music, and lyrics for the show and takes on the title role. Not many details are known about the real-life Giulia, who might have been the world’s first female serial killer; regardless, she’s the center of a legitimate crowd pleaser.

It’s 1653, and Giulia runs an apothecary with her young daughter, Vitoria (Naomi Serrano), now that her former employee, Renata (Aubrey Matalon), is engaged to one of the Gambino twins. Giulia’s second husband, the wayward, unemployed drunkard Carlo (Matthew Amira), is incensed that Vitoria is now working and decides he has other plans for her, which sets Giulia in motion, prepared to do anything she can to protect her daughter.

Giulia caters to a wide range of women, including the pregnant Maria (Emily Fink), the Duchessa (Didi Romero), who always gets what she wants, and others who are experiencing various man troubles and marital oppression. They come to Giulia and beg, “Help me, sister.” With a potion brought to her by the mysterious conjurer La Capitana (Bre Jackson), Giulia knows how to cure what ails her customers, and herself.

“There’s a poor parade of women coming in my door / I can tell you what each of them is here for / Sophia comes on Tuesdays / She doesn’t have much time to waste / And it’s the first time Isabell’s been hit / I can tell by the sad look on her face / Angelina knows the hurting on both sides of birthing / And Theresa is so desperate for a baby / She’s just starting a journey,” Giulia sings. “They will come to heal their wounds / They will come to hear the stars / They will come to fill or empty their wombs / Cover their bruises / Mend their broken hearts / All of them come in an hour of need / Looking for a glimmer of hope / And I try but I know / It’s never enough.”

Meanwhile, there is a power struggle going on between the Cardinale (Quentin Earl Darrington), who follows the precepts of the church, and the slimy new Governatore (Christopher M. Ramirez), who is instantly attracted to Vitoria.

As the body count rises, so do Giulia’s chances of getting caught.

Men better watch out in world premiere musical inspired by a somewhat true story (photo by Andy Henderson)

Evoking such films as Kill Bill, Thelma & Louise, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and Black Widow, Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo feels fresh and relevant to what is happening today, particularly in the neverending saga of the Epstein Files. Giulia is a heroic figure, albeit one who wrestles with her conscience.

Daniel Ostling’s gorgeous set features a large staircase stage left and a wall of doors and windows stage right that open up to reveal changing scenery behind them, from the apothecary to a church to a nunnery. Ana Kuzmanić’s end-of-the-Renaissance costumes are a delight, swirling amid Austin McCormick’s appropriately unextravagant choreography. The unseen eight-piece band is conducted by arranger, music director, and keyboardist Adam Rothenberg.

Nettles is magnetic as Giulia; you just can’t get enough of her, even with a probably unnecessary encore number during the curtain call. She practically glows throughout the show, her eyes shining at the audience like she’s wrapping her arms around us. The entire cast is terrific, with a special nod to Sam Simahk as Father Paolo, the only male character with any sense of decency and fairness, up to a point.

Songs such as “What Happens Next?,” “Next Time,” and “Fly Away” are too general; they could fit into many musicals without making any tweaks to the lyrics. “Happily Ever After” veers too close to Fiddler’s “Matchmaker.” Ramirez scores with “Bones,” Darrington’s baritone rattles the theater in “Original Sin,” and the women come together for a sparkling “Power.”

Water streams through the show as a metaphor for life, purification, resilience, and hope in a changing world. “You are the river / You are unstoppable / You’ll flow around every obstruction and break through / Every obstacle / You are as soft and humble as a single drop of rain / Or you can make canyons out of cliffs / With just the power of your rage / They don’t know you / Or the power that flows through. . . . Because water is the only / thing they cannot break,” Giulia sings in “The River,” a song that encapsulates what is both right and wrong about the lively and spirited production as a whole.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]

ZOUNDS! OTHELLO RECLAIMS HIS TITLE IN HARLEM

Iago (Nick Westrate) embroils Othello (James Udom) in a devious plot in stirring CTH production (photo by Richard Termine)

UPTOWN SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK: OTHELLO
Classical Theatre of Harlem
Richard Rodgers Amphitheater, Marcus Garvey Park
18 Mt. Morris Park W.
Through July 27, free (advance RSVP recommended), 8:30
www.cthnyc.org

The night I saw the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s stirring adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello, the projections weren’t working, but I found that to be a bonus, as this stripped-down version gave the audience the opportunity to investigate the misogyny and racism that’s inherent in the story, told here with a militaristic edge as well as some unexpected comic relief and sexiness.

Last year, Kenny Leon’s Broadway version of Othello starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal gained more recognition for its ticket prices, which reached $921, than for its quality, earning mixed reviews and zero Tony nominations. However, over the last decade, I’ve seen five other Othellos, each of which shined new light on the classic tragedy of jealousy and deceit without breaking the bank: Sam Gold’s captivating and intense iteration at New York Theatre Workshop in 2016, with Daniel Craig, David Oyelowo, and Rachel Brosnahan; Satoshi Miyagi’s hypnotic Mugen Noh Othello at Japan Society in 2018; Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s gripping, emotional Shakespeare in the Park production in 2018; the New Place Players’ immersive, clear, and concise show in 2023; and
Bedlam’s three-hour, four-actor sparer-than-spare work this past spring, celebrating every word.

Continuing at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park through July 27, CTH’s Othello, adroitly directed by Carl Cofield (Memnon, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), is trimmed down to a lean 105 minutes on a gray set that resembles the inside of a castle; the characters wear contemporary clothing, linking the past and the present.

Distilled to its essence; the plot zeroes in on Othello (James Udom), a Moor and military hero who has secretly married Desdemona (Isabel Arraiza). Othello’s ensign, Iago (Nick Westrate), furious that he was not promoted to lieutenant, which went to the stalwart Cassio (Orlando Grant) instead, concocts a devious plan to ruin Othello by convincing him that the ever-faithful Desdemona has been cheating on him with Cassio. With Roderigo (Hiram Delgado), who loves Desdemona, in tow, Iago goes to extreme lengths to pull the wool over Othello’s eyes and heart, unwittingly involving his own wife, Emilia (Karen Lugo), Desdemona’s maid; Bianca (Rebecca Pena), Cassio’s lover; Desdemona’s father, Brabantio (Gilbert Cruz), a powerful senator; and others.

Desdemona (Isabel Arraiza) attempts to hold her ground and defend herself in Othello (photo by Richard Termine)

Race is central throughout the play. Speaking to Brabantio early on, Iago tells him, “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise!” The Duke of Venice (Collin McConnell) says to Brabantio in Othello’s presence, “Your son-in-law is far more fair than black.” While duping Cassio, Iago can’t help but refer to the Moor as “black Othello.” And near the conclusion, Emilia calls him “the blacker devil!” These lines pierced me more than they usually do, in part because they take a more prominent place in this significantly shortened adaptation.

There is also added pungency when Othello strikes Desdemona across the face in front of her cousin Lodovico (McConnell); she responds, “I have not deserved this,” standing tall, not about to back down and just take it. This is indeed a twenty-first-century Desdemona.

Despite the many cuts, the key lines are left intact: “I am not what I am.” “If after every tempest come such calms, / May the winds blow till they have wakened death.” “Reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation!” “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat it feeds on.” “Farewell content!” “And think it no addition, nor my wish, / To have him see me womaned.”

However, Bard purists might not like some of the key changes Cofield has employed, including a different, more exciting ending. Zounds!

Westrate (The Wild Duck, A Delicate Ship) is a conniving Iago, filled with vitriol and venom. Arraiza (The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar) is one of the strongest, most well defined Desdemonas I’ve ever seen. Recent NYU grad Grant (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, GIRLBOSS) is staunch as the brave but confused Cassio.

But the center of the play is Udom (The Rolling Stone, Mies Julie), who gives a complex, riveting performance. He commands the stage with a building fury; most productions are organized around Iago, but CTH shows why Shakespeare called it Othello, not Iago.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]