CCRI Players bring Shakespeare to Vietnam with unique adaptation of Othello

August 24, 2022

The Community College of Rhode Island Players close their 2022 Summer Repertory theater season this week with Othello, a modern-era adaption of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy.

Othello premiers Thursday, August 25 at 7:30 pm at CCRI’s Bobby Hackett Theatre in Warwick and continues with 7:30 evening shows Friday and Saturday before concluding its run Sunday at 2. Tickets can be purchased online at ShowTix4U.com priced at $20 for general admission and $15 for CCRI students, faculty, and staff and seniors.

Directed by CCRI alumnus David J. Valentin of West Greenwich, RI – a performer during the Players’ Summer Rep season in 2017 – and Assistant Directed by Class of 2020 alumna Erika Fay Greenwood of Cranston, RI, the Players’ adaptation of Othello is set in 1973 toward the end of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, whereas as Shakespeare’s original version takes place during the 16th-century Ottoman–Venetian War.  

Considered one of Shakespeare’s most popular and widely-adapted works due to its enduring themes of passion, jealousy, and race, Othello is the story of Othello, a Moorish (African) general in the Venetian army who marries a younger, wealthy woman and is driven to murder her in a jealous fit of rage by his junior officer Iago, who is furious about being overlooked for a promotion and gains revenge by manipulating Othello into believing his wife is unfaithful. The Players’ adaptation features themes prevalent during the Vietnam War, including music inspired by the era such as The Rolling Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil and Creedence Clearwater’s Fortunate Son.

CCRI’s Summer Rep series, now in its fourth season, offers students the opportunity to put their own unique twists on Shakespeare’s classic works. Valentin, who starred in the 2017 production of Twelfth Night, encouraged a “collaborative process” during the show’s production, allowing the Players to add their own revisions and alterations to the script as long as they reflected Valentin’s vision for the show. He chose the Vietnam War as a theme to make the production more relatable to today’s audiences.

“From the first day I met [the Players], I told them I was directing the show so that my 16-year-old daughter can walk away from Shakespeare and understand it,” Valentin said. “When I use that particularly analogy, I explain that my 16-year-old daughter doesn’t just represent herself, but she represents all friends and family members who are attending plays. That’s been my go-to for the whole entire play, every scene – how can I make this so that someone who doesn’t understand Shakespeare can still understand what’s in front of them?”

“A lot of the world is still at war with itself, so that’s something they can easily tap into versus the way Shakespeare originally wrote it where it was set in Venice. They know the country they live in was at one time at war with Vietnam and it’s something that either their grandparents or parents were a part of it and lived through it. In that sense, it’s easier to grasp than it is in its original setting.”

Othello stars Class of 2022 alumnus Eddy Tavares (Pawtucket, RI) as Othello; Kit Martinez (East Greenwich, RI) as Othello’s wife, Desdemona; Courtney Satterley (Portsmouth, RI) as Iago; and Liam Roberts (Warwick) as Emilia, Iago’s significant other. Other members of the ensemble cast include: Ashley Aldarondo (Bianca/Duke), Ryan Alexander (Roderigo), Nate Campbell (Montano), Micaela Chille (Second Senator/Flower Child), Keyanna Mulvey (Gentleman/Messenger/Singer), Mary Poalino (First Senator/Lodovico), Chris Ricci (Brabantio), Elijah Russell (Cassio), and Cole Stanley (Gratiano/Singer). In addition to her role as Assistant Director, Greenwood is the play’s costume designer and also plays a small role in the ensemble cast.

Summer Rep returned to CCRI this year following a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Valentin points to the camaraderie between student actors – “the relationships you build during the process,” he said – as one of the many benefits of the Summer Rep program.

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