Elysium Theatre Company is to tour a new production of Shakespeare's Othello inspired by the Golden Globe-winning US TV series Homeland.
Directed by company founder and Artistic Director Jake Murray and set during the Obama / Bush 'War on Terror', the production will tour to 19 venues across the north of England in September and October 2024.
Murray said that the tour is "part of Elysium’s drive to narrow the cultural gap which exists in the UK in 2024, by taking Shakespeare to the people."
He said, "we hear a lot about the economic levelling-up between the North and South, but much less about the cultural gap that exists between parts of the UK. For example, those living in big cities in the South are far more likely to be given the opportunity to experience live theatre than those in the North, and this is an something we want to put right.
“All the feedback we have had from audiences both young and old is that people in our part of the world are finding it harder and harder to see Shakespeare. To do so usually involves a trip to London or Stratford which, after you’ve paid for travel, accommodation, food and tickets, can cost hundreds of pounds. We don’t think this is fair. Why should people of the North be denied what people elsewhere find easy to access?"
He added, “setting the play during the Obama years will capture the sweep of the play, with 16th century Venice merging with the modern West: sophisticated, technologically advanced, ethnically mixed societies at war with a hostile external force. The parallels are perfect.
“Every Shakespearean tragedy is a thriller; setting this during one of the tensest periods of our modern times will only make Othello all the more exciting and relevant to audiences.”
The tour will open at Queen's Hall Arts in Hexham on 18 September and finish at The Maltings in Berwick on 20 October 2024.