After a brief, critically-acclaimed run in Vienna in June, director Peter Sellars's chilling production of Othello is currently being staged here, for a similarly brief period of time, ending October 4th. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Iago and John Ortiz, a Latino actor, as the titular Moor of Venice. Explaining the decision to cast a non-black actor in the title role, Sellars tells the Times, "In the 21st century in this country you can no longer look at Othello as a black guy, as some symbolic figure of the unrepresented black person. He is a person, period. In our cast we have three black actors, three Latin actors and two white actors. We’re mixing it up, just like America is mixing it up." more ›

Many know New York native Gaius Charles as star running back Brian "Smash" Williams in the hit high school football series Friday Night Lights. But Public Theater audiences are about to know him as the Duke of Venice, star potentate of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, in William Shakespeare's Othello. This hotly anticipated production, directed by minimalist avant-garde opera and theater director Peter Sellars, electrified Vienna earlier this summer and makes its American debut on Saturday, for 23 performances only. The cast also includes the reliable and potentially riveting match-up of John Ortiz as Othello and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Iago—and that probably has something to do with why the run is almost sold out. During rehearsals last week Gaius spoke with us about Sellars's production, what the play means for contemporary audiences, and the odds of returning to Friday Night Lights for a cameo. more ›