Othello —

• To what degree does race matter in Othello? [Discussion Topic 1: Does race matter in Othello—OthFilm1]

• Surprisingly, perhaps, the role of Othello has usually been played by white actors, sometimes just as whites, but frequently by whites in blackface. For example, Anthony Hopkins played Othello on television in blackface as did Lawrence Olivier and Orson Welles in film. So the Lawrence Fishburne version is unusual in that it presents Othello truly as an African.

• Leila Christenbury states the question this way: "Does Othello largely turn on the issue of race? Does it, on the other hand, deal only with the subject of the difficulty of love and trust and with the arenas of war and society and their incompatibility?" Does the play present the relationship of Othello and Desdemona as failing because both had character flaws – him credulity and her naiveté – an an incompatibility of age and youth, military and civil society? Or does the incompatibility stem from racism in the society and in Iago?

• Kenneth Branagh as Iago [Discussion Topic 2: What does Branagh stress in his concept of Iago?—OthFilm2]

• The character of Iago dominates this play to an unprecedented degree. You may have explored the complexity of Iago's motivation in a discussion topic for the play. Even if you didn't, it is impossible not to be fascinated by speculation about what motivates Iago.
• An actor playing the role has to select what he will emphasize in the part. He must achieve at once credibility as Othello's long-trusted military assistant. He must seem selfless as a comrade and friend of both Roderigo and Othello yet also convince the audience that he is acting out of singular self-interest. He must be at once the embodiment of evil—a devil—yet seem convincingly human—not supernatural. This is not a play of witches and spells but of modern smiling ruthlessness.
• How an actor achieves these and other challenges requires much reflection on the part and selection. How much should the actor playing Iago stress the sexual jealousy that Iago suggests? Is the sexual jealousy true or merely a motivation casually tossed out mostly for Roderigo's benefit? Is there a sub-text of homosexual desire and masculine impotence present in the part? Is Iago's evil truly malignant or is he the type of character who enjoys bringing others down out of shear amusement?