In 1951, Laurence Olivier offered Welles the chance to direct a play for him at the St. James Theatre, which Olivier had leased. Welles and Olivier had met in 1939, when Olivier appeared on the Campbell Playhouse production of Beau Geste. Welles and Olivier were certainly aware of each other's Shakespearean films, and putting the two together seemed like a good idea, as Olivier had popular appeal while Welles had a more avant garde approach to the plays.

Welles initially wanted to produce Time Runs, his adaptation of Dr. Faustus, but Olivier convinced him to mount a play by Shakespeare. Since filming on Othello had more or less wrapped up, Welles decided that a theatrical production would help the film out in a publicity sense. Welles was taking a chance by doing this; John Gielgud's oft-quoted response when he heard about Welles' plans was: "You're going to do Othello?" (pause) "On the stage?" (another pause) "In London?" (complete speechlessness) Welles, being an American and an outsider to the English theater scene, quickly became the talk of the columns and gossipmongers, as he lived it up while leading the cast through rehearsals.

Welles initially stated that he wanted actors without Shakespearean experience for his Othello, but in England, particularly London, this was near impossible, and Welles ended up settling for actors who had never played in Othello before. Rehearsals proceeded in what had became Welles' style: while the cast performed on stage, Welles watched and directed from the seats, only joining the cast regularly during the final week of rehearsals. In Elaine Dundy's book Finch, Bloody Finch, Welles is quoted as telling the actors "To hell with the Method! This is the Welles way! Act, you sons of bitches!" Welles chaotic manner of directing reached a new height when a week before opening, he abruptly disappeared for four days, as he later stated, to attend a party in Venice. After returning, he picked up where he left off.

The play opened in Newcastle, where it played for a week, followed by a week in Manchester. From there, it was off to London, where Othello opened on October 18, 1951. Peter Finch played Iago, and Gudrun Ure, who would re-dub Suzanne Cloutier's performance in Welles' film of Othello, played Desdemona. Reviews were generally positive, with some critics strongly praising Welles' portrayal of Othello. The most notorious pan came from Kenneth Tynan, who wrote that Welles played with the "courage of his restrictions." Overall, the play broke even, and Olivier and Welles agreed to work with each other again.

The production used many of the same textual cuts that Welles employed in his film Othello, and the production as a whole is described as having a cinematic quality to it, with quick scenes and the use of curtains to "dissolve" from one scene to another. Welles used the Lavignino/Barberis film score for portions of the play as well.

PROGRAM:

1

2

3