My Dear Othello is a Frankenstein monster of a theater piece. From Shakespeare’s Othello the work culls plot points and its cast of characters. Like José Limón’s ballet The Moor’s Pavane, the work focuses on Othello’s four main characters—Othello, Desdemona, Iago and Emilia.
Theatre Gigante’s artistic directors and co-writers of My Dear Othello, Isabelle Kralj and Mark Anderson, have exercised artistic liberty to ensure contemporary relevance by shifting the thematic focus of their source material. Timely matters such as the fear-induced hatred of foreign elements in society and timeless subjects such as the destructive power of lies and ego take center stage in My Dear Othello.
The work first premiered in 2004, not long after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Ten years later, explains Kralj, “in this loud world of sound bites, talking heads, hyperbolic advertisements and sensationalist news, we still have a hard time differentiating between truth and lies. Hopefully the piece will make people think.”
My Dear Othello plays at Kenilworth Studio 508 Theater (1925 E. Kenilworth Place) at 8 p.m. Oct. 23-25 and Nov. 1, 7 and 8, as well as Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. To reserve seats, call 800-838-3006 or visit theatregigante.org.
THEATRE HAPPENINGS
■ At 6 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 19, UPROOTED Theatre presents its fifth annual fundraising show, Against Type: Roles I’ll Never Play But Could, at Next Act Theatre, 255 S. Water St. Well-known Milwaukee actors will appear in roles they’ll likely never play because of race, age, gender or body type. For tickets, call 920-650-1806 or visit uprootedmke.com.
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■ Five college friends in a cabin in the woods accidentally unleash an evil force that turns them into demons. Giant Spider Productions presents the Milwaukee premiere of Evil Dead: The Musical. The comedy based on the Evil Dead films runs Oct. 23-Nov 1 at the Underground Collaborative in the Shops of Grand Avenue, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. Audiences seated close to the splattering blood are provided with ponchos. For tickets, visit giantspiderproductions.com.
■ Based on the stories of Damon Runyon, Guys and Dolls follows the Prohibition-era adventures of the biggest gangsters, gamblers and showgirls in New York City. Sunset Playhouse will bring this great American musical back to the stage Oct. 23-Nov. 16 at 800 Elm Grove Road. For tickets, call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.
■ Fantasy vaudeville for children and adults, Frogz! is the internationally celebrated work of IMAGO Theatre of Portland, Ore. Actors in astonishing costumes as penguins, frogs, crocodiles, humanoids and animated inanimate objects perform whimsical scenes to carnival-like music. The South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center (901 15th Ave.) presents the show at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct 24. Call 414-766-5049 or email pacboxoffice@sdsm.k12.wi.us for tickets.
■ Waukesha Civic Theatre presents Ken Ludwig’s Tony Award-winning farce, Lend Me a Tenor. The play is set at the Cleveland Grand Opera Company in 1934 as the company prepares for the arrival of world-famous tenor, Il Stupendo. After a series of missteps, a manager’s assistant is forced to take Stupendo’s place in the role of a lifetime. The show runs Oct. 24-Nov. 9 at Waukesha Civic Theatre, 264 W. Main St. For tickets, call 262-547-0708 or visit waukeshacivictheatre.org.
■ Splinter Group Theatre opens its second season by revisiting one of the most popular plays of the 1970s, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Oct. 24-Nov. 9. Paul Zindel’s lyrical melodrama about a monstrous mother and her frail daughters is an American classic. Mallory Metoxen directs an all-female cast led by Niffer Clarke. Performances start at 7:30 p.m. at the Marian Center for Nonprofits, 3211 S. Lake Drive. For tickets, call 646-425-5960 or visit splinter-group.org.
■ Imagination Theatre of Germantown presents Drop Dead!, a popular 1992 murder mystery farce for adults. Performances are Oct. 24-26 at the Lutheran Church of the Living Christ, W156 N10660 Pilgrim Road in Germantown. For tickets, call 262-957-0399 or visit itogonline.org.
■ Carthage College Theatre senior Mikaley Osley won playwriting honors from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Her adaptation of Anita Diamant’s 2009 novel Day After Night premieres at the college under the direction of Herschel Kruger. It tells the true stories of Jewish women released in 1945 from a British-run camp established to prevent refugees from entering Palestine. The show runs Oct. 24-Nov. 1 at the campus’ Wartburg Auditorium, 2001 Alford Park Drive. For tickets, call 262-551-6661 or email theatretickets@carthage.edu.
