Janet Suzman decided to go ahead with the controversial physical aspect of Othello and Desdemona’s interracial relationship.

Breaking Racial Taboos

Can a play written in the seventeenth century protest against contemporary issues?  Is it possible to use a Shakespearian tragedy draw attention to political injustice? Apartheid was a system of enforced legal racial segregation in South Africa that was imposed on the country's majority non white inhabitants by the minority white population. In 1988 actress and director Janet Suzman took the decision to defy the racist apartheid regime by staging Othello in Johannesburg with a mixed cast of both white and black actors. In these three films we explore the way in which one of Shakespeare’s plays was used to make provocative statements on the political situation in South Africa the late eighties.

This material forms part of The Open University course A230 Reading and studying literature.

Education

Can a play written in the seventeenth century protest against contemporary issues? Is it possible to use a Shakespearian tragedy draw attention to political injustice? Apartheid was a system of enforced legal racial segregation in South Africa that was imposed on the country's majority non white inhabitants by the minority white population. In 1988 actress and director Janet Suzman took the decision to defy the racist apartheid regime by staging Othello in Johannesburg with a mixed cast of both white and black actors. In these three films we explore the way in which one of Shakespeare’s plays was used to make provocative statements on the political situation in South Africa the late eighties. This material forms part of The Open University course A230 Reading and studying literature.

Share Breaking Racial Taboos

Sign up to save your podcasts

Breaking Racial Taboos

Breaking Racial Taboos

More shows like Othello and apartheid - for iPod/iPhone

Bon départ: beginners' French - Audio

Getting started on Classical Latin - for iBooks

Understanding operations management - for iBooks

Women in Science - Audio

Cory Doctorow: Computer and Internet Regulation - Audio

Reith Lectures 2009: A new citizenship debate - Audio

Beginners’ Chinese - Audio

Andante: beginners' Italian - Audio

Sickle cell disease: a lethal advantage - for iPad/Mac/PC

The MMR vaccine: public health, private fears - for iBooks