Karamu’s “American Moor” Explores Issues Fueled by Shakespeare’s “Othello”

Photo by Nina Wurtzel

Thu 5/5-Sun 5/29

The Karamu House theater is once again bringing a groundbreaking production to its stage when it presents American Moor, written and performed by noted national actor Keith Hamilton Cobb.

The show uses Shakespeare’s play Othello as its springboard. The titular “moor” has stoked many controversies among theater professionals, such as who should play this ostensibly Black character and how the role should be performed. That fuels American Moor, as a Black actor (played by Cobb) auditions for the role for a younger, white male director, and the two square off with differing opinions about the role, reflecting societal issues around the position of Black males in American society.

“The text is impassioned and poetic, laced with laugh out-loud moments of levity but also with heart-rending sadness as it boldly illustrates the politics of America in this era of racial reckoning,” the press release tells us.

Josh Tyson plays opposite Cobb as the white director; Kim Weild directs.

The play first ran off-Broadway in 2019 and will have a month-long run at Karamu’s Jelliffe Foundation Theatre with performances Thursday-Saturday @ 7:30pm and Sunday @ 3pm. Tickets are $25-$45. Get them here.

karamuhouse.org 

AmericanMoor.com

 

 

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