Frantic Assembly Present Othello at Lyric Hammersmith

Kirsty Oswald and Mark Ebulue in Frantic Assembly's Othello. Photo: Manuel Harlan Frantic Assembly’s acclaimed and award-winning Othello  will explode onto the stage of London's Lyric Hammersmith following its UK tour. Set against the backdrop of Yorkshire during the race riots of 2001, Artistic Director Scott Graham has bought a fresh take to Shakespeare's timeless story of paranoia, jealousy, sex and murder. Fusing a taut adaptation of the classic text with its trademark hard-hitting choreography, Frantic Assembly takes a scalpel to 21st century Britain, exposing prejudice, danger and fear.

The Yorkshire race riots of 2001 were a time of terrible divisions and some unexpected alliances. Othello’s passionate affair with Desdemona leaves him open to jealousy and attack – with devastating consequences. Violence is a way of life and reputation is everything…

Mark Ebulue, recently of the RSC and a former kickboxer, plays Othello. Steven Miller, known for his four-year stint as Lenny Lyons in Casualty (BBC TV) plays Iago, with Kirsty Oswald (The Judas Kiss, The Winter’s Tale) as Desdemona. The cast also includes Leila Crerar and Richard James-Neale, who will reprise their roles from the original 2008 production as Emilia and Roderigo respectively. The role of Cassio is played by Ryan Fletcher, who has previously performed with Frantic Assembly in Beautiful Burnout (2010), while Montano will be played by Dritan Kastrati, a graduate of Frantic Assembly’s Ignition programme - an innovative vocational training project for young men aged 16 – 20 years. For further information and for the box office visit the Lyric Hammersmith website.