In:Othello in European Culture
Edited by Elena Bandín Fuertes, Francesca Rayner and Laura Campillo Arnaiz
[Shakespeare in European Culture 3] 2022
► pp. 191–204
Chapter 10Pulling the strings
Othello, puppet and object theatre
Published online: 25 May 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/sec.3.10gue
https://doi.org/10.1075/sec.3.10gue
Abstract
Othello is a particularly attractive play to examine the connection between Shakespeare and puppets, as Othello is metaphorically manipulated by Iago, who is the one pulling the strings. This chapter turns the metaphor into reality with the study of the connection between Othello and puppet theatre. To do so, the chapter focuses on three productions: Che cosa sono le nuvole (1968), a short film by Pier Paolo Pasolini, O-telo (2011)¸ by the theatre company Viajeinmóvil, and the performance of Othello in the series Complete Works: Table Top Shakespeare (2015), by Forced Entertainment. These productions engage with different European puppet traditions and offer new insights into the play that have contributed to the dissemination of Shakespeare’s Othello throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Article outline
- Puppets and Shakespeare across Europe
- Che cosa sono le nuvole: The actors are the puppets
- O-telo: The actors and the puppets
- Table Top Shakespeare: Othello: The objects are the puppets
- Puppetry and object theatre: Tradition and innovation
Acknowledgements Notes References
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