Othello Demystified
Othello Demystified
The Workshop
On Friday the 17th of April, the Year 12 English Literature students took ourselves down to PenangPAC with bleary eyes and foggy heads courtesy of the huge amounts of studying we had all been doing, 
because our exams were in less than 2 weeks!!! With soft groans and inner grumbles, we all turned up, some of us even calculating the number of past year papers we could have done instead of coming to this work shop about Shakespeare. But boy, were we glad we did! The mood of the workshop leaders was contagious, and within the first 2 minutes of being introduced to them, the Year 12 students were no 
longer that group of apprehensive students, but lightened by the fact that these professionals were willing to take time out of their day to teach us! We did an assortment of little activities
to get us to interact with the text, such as galloping in accordance with the rhythm of the passage, and also being allowed to hurl insults at other people, all extracted from Othello itself. All too soon, the
workshop was over, and we were transformed. We swarmed Miss Indu and told her how excited we now were to start Othello, when in fact, the group of us had just been discussing how much we were dreading the transition into Shakespearean language. Such is the power of good exposure!
Rhea Goh Year 12
The Performance
In the evening, the Year 12 and 13 English Literature classes, along with a few Tenby teachers, were treated to a wonderful rendition of Othello by the KL Shakespeare Players in their on-going series: Shakespeare Demystified. This group of talented actors and actresses performed a wonderful rendition of Othello, managing to captivate audiences with amazing performances by everyone. Iago, the villain of the play, was played by Lim Soon Heng who managed to draw audiences into his plot, effectively making us accomplices of his evil schemes; all the while entertaining us with wit and charm. The main character, Othello, was played by Lim Kien Lee who presented us with a man full of pride and purposes, whose eloquence in language could charm anyone. The innocent and beautiful Desdemona was played by Grace Ng, who presented audiences with a delicate, yet strong
girl whose singing of the ‘Willow’ song brought tears to many an eye. In keeping with the objective of demystifying Shakespeare, the play was cut short with only the key scenes being acted out. Each scene was also preceded and followed by narration which explained the scenes themselves. As such, audiences who might not have been very familiar to Othello were still able to keep up with the story and its characters. All in all, the KL Shakespeare Players presented us with an opportunity to watch a Shakespeare classic, an opportunity rarely received in Penang and performed it wonderfully.
Sean Cheam Year 13
The Post Performance Discussion
Saturday morning at 10am, we woke up and strode out merrily to the scheduled discussion like the sunlight didn’t hurt our souls. Despite the actors’ repeated disclaimers that they were not experts, they offered useful insights and provided context to Shakespeare’s world of Othello. For example, did you perhaps know that in olden times
according to Jewish tradition, people would hang up their wedding sheets stained with blood from the wedding night to prove that the bride was indeed chaste? The discussion was only expected to go on for about an hour, but it was so riveting to all parties involved that it went on for two hours. The sweet, sweet smell of ‘Othello’ and English Literature clung to us all day long.
Wenhui Cheok Year 13
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