An Interview with Kent Thompson

There were a couple parts of this interview that intrigued me, but what intrigued me the most was the comment that Kent Thompson made about producing Othello in a smaller stage to create intimacy with the audience.

The smaller stage that Thompson decided to use for Othello was called the Octagon and held about 225 people. The Octagon was only about 1/3rd the size of the theater that Thompson usually produces Othello in, the Festival Stage. Thompson decided to do this because the smaller stage made the play more intimate with the audience, and made "the pain and anger and racism impossible to escape". I think this was a brilliant move on Thompson's part. The whole reason for plays, and especially tragedies, is to engage the audience and make them feel a certain way. A play wouldn't be successful if it couldn't make the audience feel a certain way after it ended or have lingering emotions after it was over. The smaller stage for Othello really helped all the emotional issues affect the audience and make them think about the play after it ended. Some of these issues throughout the play include, lago's plot to hurt everyone around him, Othello's murder of Desdemona, Othello's suicide, and the overall idea of racism between Othello and his status and marriage in white Venetian society. Of course, everyone felt disgust toward lago because of his evil plot and uncertain reasons to commit such crime. However, there were other emotions felt after the play that weren't as clear-cut. For example, after Othello killed himself should we feel that what Othello did was fair because he took the life of someone he loved and sacrificed himself to make up for it and be with her in the afterlife? Or should we feel upset that Othello didn't man up to his actions and go to Venice to face the consequences for the mistake he made. Some of the emotions we feel after seeing the play are pretty uniform across the audience and others may vary from person to person.