The Liberty Theatre Company presents Desdemona, A Play About a Handkerchief. This rowdy, hysterical, feminist update on Othello is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, and serves as the perfect addition to summer fun in Hailey. “Summer is a great time to be in the Valley,” says Desdemona actress Aly Wepplo, “and this play is just plain fun.”
As the wrongly accused and suffering wife of Shakespeare’s tragic Moor, Othello, Desdemona has long been viewed as the “victim of circumstance.” But as Paula Vogel demonstrates in her comic deconstruction of Shakespeare’’ play – aligning tongue-in-cheek humor while raising serious questions as to the role of women through the ages – Desdemona was far from the quivering naif we’ve all come to know.
Author Paula Vogel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose plays include Indecent (Tony Award for Best Play), and How I Learned to Drive, is known for bucking the status quo with each new play, and Desdemona’s drastic shift in perspective from Shakespeare’s original work takes audiences in a fresh, comedic, and powerful new direction.
At the helm of the production is Los Angeles-based stage and film director Veronica Moonhill (founder of the award-winning SkinHorse Theater Company in New Orleans and recent assistant to the director for the blockbuster motion picture Where The Crawdads Sing), alongside an all-female cast of local favorites – Audra Honaker, Tess Makena, and Aly Wepplo.
Speaking about what makes this piece so enticing, Moonhill says, “Desdemona gives voice to the female characters of Othello whose voices are taken from them by the men. The play of Othello focuses on the jealousy created in men by other men, but never takes into account the personhood of Desdemona or Emilia or Bianca. This play gives them the stage to be messy, sexy, silly, petty people, and looks at how these women fight against the fate that the play of Othello sets up for them.”
Vogel’s desire to further develop Shakespeare’s world has given the three actresses of Desdemona license to explore vastly new interpretations of each character, most notably for actress Aly Wepplo, who plays the titular Desdemona herself. “Desdemona is a bit of a brat,” offers Wepplo about the traditionally demure figure. “And she’s lovable, too. It’s delicious to play someone so complicated. Is she a villain or a hero? She’s both, and she’s neither. It’s all more interesting than that.”
Desdemona, A Play About a Handkerchief plays July 7 – 22. Evening shows begin at 7 p.m., and matinees begin at 2 p.m. All performances take place upstairs at The Mint in Hailey. Tickets to Desdemona can either be purchased individually or as part of the Pay-What-You-Feel Local’s Pass (available through July 10 only), all available at LibertyTheatreCompany.org, or by calling (208) 582-8388.