The Royal Shakespeare Company has cast three-time Olivier winner Sharon D Clarke as a black lesbian Othello in a futuristic reimagining of the play. The production, directed by Monique Touko, examines the story through the lens of misogynoir, a term coined by academic Moya Bailey to describe hatred directed at black women.
Clarke's vision for Othello
Clarke, who brought the project to the RSC, envisions Othello as a black lesbian general married to a younger Desdemona, with a 15-year age gap. The actor said the production recalls her Olivier-winning performance in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, which recast the Jewish Loman family as African American. “Everything was ramped up,” she said of that casting change. “The American dream became so visceral because you could see the American dream and the impossibilities of it for that family. I’m hoping now through this lens with Othello, you will have to see things differently.”
Exploring gender and power
Clarke added: “She is predominantly in a male environment, so how does she deal with that on a day-to-day basis? How does she keep her dignity and her strength and her power and her womanhood on display?” The futuristic setting avoids “the whole camouflage thing,” she noted. Clarke will channel her own experiences as an out lesbian, including being told by family that being gay means “you’re never going to work, you’re never going to get family and never going to fall in love.” She said: “I’m going to incorporate that within her. She is the strong leader, but those vulnerabilities are still going to be there.”
RSC's history and context
This is not the first time a black British woman has played Othello as a lesbian. Gemma Bodinetz’s 2018 production at Liverpool’s Everyman cast Bridgerton star Golda Rosheuvel as the tragic general. At the time, Bodinetz said it was a bold attempt to “make the play feel electric again.” The RSC has made theatrical history with previous Othello productions: in 2015, Hugh Quarshie became the first black actor to play Iago at the RSC.
Season and financial challenges
The production is part of an expanded 2026-27 season at the RSC, which has undergone a difficult 18 months. Increased costs led to a decision to cut its workforce by 11% to avoid what joint artistic director Daniel Evans called a “perilous situation.” The season also includes former National Theatre artistic director Rufus Norris’s RSC directorial debut with Brock’s Mill, a touring version of Blanche McIntyre’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, and an early years adaptation of David Litchfield’s children’s book The Bear and the Piano. The RSC has appointed Grammy, Olivier and Tony winner Martin Lowe as music associate, Paula Stephens as head of voice, and Emily Burns, Ryan Day and Elizabeth Freestone as associate directors. Evans and joint artistic director Tamara Harvey said: “We want to ensure that as many people as possible feel welcome at the RSC through the stories we choose to tell,” adding that “re-examining 400-year-old texts through an urgent new lens” is part of that.
