The Othello Papers
This section provides an in-depth look at the development of Robert Henry
Johnson's The Othello Papers. Below are some answers to your
questions. To view clips from the workshop
click here.Why Develop This Work?
Why this Play? Words from the Playwright
About the Playwright
about the Director
This is a unique play and concept. It has a mass appeal not only for classical lovers, but also to the groups who are not familiar with Shakespeare’s work, yet still intrigued by this unlikely premise. Looking into the organization’s future, our artistic team realized we have to keep re-inventing ourselves without losing what makes this particular company special. We have to keep pushing our comfort zone in order to inspire excellent work not only from ourselves, but from our artists and the community.
Why This Play? Word from Robert Henry Johnson
What was the motivation to develop this project at this time? Racism. The notion
that being Black was based on the perception of others. A friend of mine in Los
Angeles was playing the role of Miranda in The Tempest and this white actor
laughed at her and said something offensive to the fact that wasn’t it
ridiculous to have a black actor in the role of Miranda. The young lady just
said, “Have you ever heard of the Moors”? And of course he didn’t. This occurred
in was 1996. Not 1806. You would think that these are no longer issues in
today’s society. But later that same year I was confronted with the same type of
disbelief when I watched the film Dangerous Beauty. The movie had a black woman
in a renaissance costume. It took me a second, but my first reaction was that “I
don’t believe this”, I don’t believe that this black woman would be in this time
period. I had to confront my own biased idea of who we are. I had to struggle if
I was going to buy into that idea.
This led me to research and find out where were we during this time period? And
what one black person did I know who was isolated in Europe. Othello. Where were
the other black people during that time in Europe? It was then that I discovered
we have an entire history revolving around being inside and outside of
Shakespeare.
I have always loved writing and I love the way actors in particular are able to
verbalize and communicate in developing a piece. I want to get my foot in the
theatre. Not through dancing or a presentation - but theatre, where actors are
very verbal in discovering and building upon something. Being a playwright is my
second act in life. I have always wanted to write, and working on The Othello
Papers was my way and opportunity to do this.
In the 60s blacks were very proud and powerful with their work and presenting
who they were. By the 80s we were left with roles of cooks, thieves, pimps, and
ho. What happened? Where was our voice? We were playing roles that didn’t even
have names “Robber #1” or “Driver”. I want to give a voice to actors to talk
about race and race relations and to challenge that notion of where were black
people during this period. I want to bring black theater to the helm of things.
Create a black character that hasn’t been seen before. I want to provide black
actors with challenging, innovative and creative roles. There aren’t a lot of
scripts out there that challenges the body, the voice, and complexity for black
actors any more. We have pigeon-toed ourselves as a certain type, and I want to
challenge the theater and America on this notion and image. Black artists are
bright lights being held under a bush. We are at the helm of informing the world
and that’s what this play The Othello Papers presents, an opportunity to inform
the world that we are here – have been here - and have contributed to more
things than you realize.
I want to work with the African-American Shakespeare Company on this project
because I want to work with their actors who have been facing these same issues
of performing Shakespeare while Black. Their experiences and perceptions from
the audiences or even from people who have never seen their show and how they
react to hearing that such a company exists thrills me. Part of their company
member includes someone that has a incredible range of black characters in
Shakespeare who nobody knew were black. This group can provide me with the
communication that is necessary to flush out my ideas, and to learn from them
through their own personal experience and artistry in this realm.
About the Playwright, Robert Henry Johnson
Robert Henry Johnson was born and raised in San Francisco, California. Mr.
Johnson is a product of the San Francisco Bay Area black arts community, which
reared and nurtured him for over two decades. He is the son of guitarist Robert
Gonzales and jazz vocalist Lady Mem’fis. At the tender age of three, he received
his first professional job as the assistant director to Keith Grier in a play
produced by The Black Light Explosion Company. He began writing short plays when
his mother bought him a plastic yellow typewriter for his seventh birthday. The
following year, he graduated to a Smith-Corona, and authored several one-act
plays throughout his elementary and high school years which he produced and
directed in collaboration with his teachers. Bes Educational Theater Company
produced his first play Angels and Devils at the Waajumbe Dance Studio.
He is the author of eighteen one-act plays Simmie (1988), Pear Water (1990),
Five Stages (1990), Skinny (1990), Send Word (1991), Sax (1991), Clarissa
(1992), The Yellow Carnival (1993), Contralto (1994), Seven Bantu Knots (1994),
The Nutmeg Project (1995), River (1996), The Wife of the Rose (1997), A Year In
the Honeycomb (1997), Wild Flower (1998), Mustard Seed (1999), ReMyth: The Horse
Project (2001), DJ Cell 30/Opera Isabella (2002), and the author of one three
act play Poison Ground (1991). His plays have been work shopped as
professionally staged readings at Hartford Stage Company in Hartford,
Connecticut, Robey Theater Company in Los Angeles, California, Bay Area
Playwrights Festival, Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience and Sugar
Shack Performance Gallery in San Francisco, California. Recently, his text was
featured in Stage Bridge and Opera Piccolo’s 2005 Spring production of Being
Something: Living Young and Growing Old In Oakland, directed by Ellen Sebastian
Chang. In 2002, he was featured as a writer, performer and choreographer in The
Quilt Project produced by Laura Elaine Ellis. That same year, his “unforgettable
and moving” monologue titled Not the Mayflower, which received glowing praise
from the San Francisco Chronicle, was featured in Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe’s
one-woman show Political Gossip at Intersection for the Arts.
In addition to his writing, Mr. Johnson is an accomplished dancer and
choreographer. He enrolled in the dance program at J Eugene McAteer’s Magnate
School of the Arts and became a member of its first graduating class. Johnson
was acknowledged by the Bay Area as a promising choreographer and appeared on
several television programs such as Hot Streak and People Are Talking. In 1985,
he received a full scholarship to San Francisco Ballet School. While still a
student, he was noticed by internationally acclaimed choreographer William
Forsythe, former artistic director of Frankfurt Ballet, who introduced him to
the international world of choreography. Since that time, Mr. Johnson has
mounted ballets on Bavarian State Opera Ballet in Munich, Germany, Ballet
British Columbia in Vancouver, Oakland Ballet, Santa Barbara Dance Theater,
Oregon Ballet Theater School in Portland, Oregon and Lines Ballet Pre
Professional Program. He has danced professionally with Oakland Ballet, ODC/San
Francisco, Santa Fe Opera, Citicentre Dance Theatre and the Asian American Dance
Collective. His film and television credits include an appearance with En Vogue
in the 1996 Soul Train Music Awards Ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in Los
Angeles, California, Paramount Picture’s Leonard Part VI featuring Bill Cosby,
and an independent film by Aarin Burch titled Spin Cycle. In 1993, Robert Henry
Johnson formed the Robert Henry Johnson Dance Company (RHJDC), which performed
annual seasons in San Francisco and toured nationally to critical acclaim. He
has choreographed over nineteen works for the company. He is the recipient of
2001 Bay Area Critics Circle Award for his choreography in Thick House’s
production of The Seven written by Will Power, 1998 Union Bank’s Citizen of the
Year Award, Stolichnaya 1966 Arts and Achievement Award for Contemporary Dance,
1995 Goldie Award for Choreographer of the Year, 1993 and 1992 Izzie Award for
Best Individual Performance. Mr. Johnson is the recipient of the 1992 Levi’s &
Strauss Certificate of Literary Appreciation. He is a music and live performance
critic for San Francisco Bayview Paper.
About the Director, Shannon Fitzsimmons
Shannon was the dramaturg/ assistant director on Bay Area playwright/
performer John O'Keefe's solo show Two Songs/ Song of Myself, which premiered at
the 2007 Under the Radar Festival
at the Public Theater in New York City and had a hit run at The Marsh in San
Francisco last summer. She is continuing her collaboration with Mr. O"Keefe,
serving as dramaturg for his new piece about Emily Dickinson, and she is also
assisting L. Peter Callender on his upcoming play Full of Grace. She graduated
*summa cum laude* from Hamilton College in 2005, where her directing credits
included: Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, How I Learned to Drive, and The
Gnadiges Fraulein by Tennessee Williams. She completed a professional directing
internship at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and has worked with Magic
Theatre here in San Francisco and
Pilgrim Theatre in Boston.
Ticket
Price: $15 for a single ticket or $30 for all 3 workshops
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