British stars David Oyelowo
who was the first black actor to play an English king in a major Shakespeare
production in the RSC's 2001 staging of Henry VI and Daniel Craig are to star
together in an Off Broadway production of Shakespeare's Othello.
The play will be presented
in a 199-seat theatre for a limited run, although dates are yet to be
announced.
The James Bond actor will
star as Iago in the play staged by the New York Theater Workshop (NYTW), with
Selma actor Oyelowo in the title role.
It will be directed by Sam
Gold, who won a Tony this year for Fun Home.
The director told the New
York Times he and Craig had been in talks for some time to collaborate on a
theatre project, before reaching out to Oyelowo.
'Sublime actors'
He added he was excited to
present the play in a small theatre because of the intimacy it would afford,
but said it was too early to describe the production in any detail.
"When Sam Gold came to
us with the beginning sketches of this production, with these two sublime
actors, it seemed the perfect next step for us to take together," NYTW
artistic director James Nicola told Deadline.
"I'm eager to see what
these original, creative artists come up with in response to Shakespeare's
enduring tragedy."
Although the NYTW has
hosted a number of productions which went on to Broadway success, including
Once and Peter and the Starcatcher, Nicola said a Broadway transfer of Othello
was unlikely given the limited availability of the actors.
Craig - who will be seen on
the big screen in 007 film Spectre later this month - recently appeared on
Broadway in 2013 in a revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal opposite his wife,
Rachel Weisz, and Rafe Spall.
In 2009, he also appeared
opposite Hugh Jackman in a Broadway production of A Steady Rain.
Oyelowo has a long list of
theatre credits to his name, beginning his stage career in 1999 with the Royal
Shakespeare Company.
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