Sir Patrick Stewart wants to do Othello again (he’s performed the role before, in 1997). In 1997, Patrick Stewart took the role of Othello with the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.) in a race-bending performance, in a "photo negative" production of a white Othello with an otherwise all-black cast. SHAKESPEARE'S OTHELLO was conceived as a black character, but in 1997 Patrick Stewart caused controversy after being cast as a 'race reversed' white Moor. By Ben Arogundade. The director Charles Marowitz allocated the roles of tragic hero and his nemesis to black actors in 1972; and Ron Canada played Iago to Patrick Stewart’s white Othello in 1997. In 1997, the white actor Patrick Stewart played Othello in an otherwise all-black production; a more recent staging featured black actors as both Othello and Iago. Language English Country United States Medium Video Technical information Colour / Sound Recording date 13 Dec 1997 Credits Director Jude Kelly Writer William Shakespeare Music Michael Ward Production Design Robert Innes Hopkins Costume Robert Innes Hopkins Cast. News Patrick Stewart Stars in Race-Reversed Othello in D.C. Nov. 17 Nov 17, 1997 That classically trained actor Patrick Stewart will star in Othello at Shakespeare Theatre in …
The concept was invented by the British actor Sir Patrick Stewart in 1997. How’d I miss this?

There is a debate among scholars as to whether Othello is a black man or an Arab/Berber, as both were referred to as Moors at the time. Accomplished film, television and stage actor Patrick Stewart plays Othello joined by an all African American cast, including Franchelle Stewart Dorn as Emilia. The Patrick Stewart version has (white) Stewart as the title character, and everyone else is black. Yeah, I think the days of white Othellos are (fortunately) over.

Patrick Stewart as Othello #1 Posted: 3/12/09 at 4:33pm i was looking at the Shakespeare Theatre of DC's webpage and it seems that during their 97-98 season they did a production of "Othello…
Patrick Stewart did the only-white-guy-in-a-black-cast version twenty years ago, but I don't know if it added much. [2] Spurred by the devious Iago and believing that his beloved Desdemona has betrayed him, Othello destroys his own happy world. Such provocative recastings of the role are now acceptable, with theatre companies casting Othello as a woman or inverting the gender of the whole cast.

With the notable exception of Patrick Stewart, who played Othello as part of an otherwise African-American cast in a ‘photonegative’ production in Washington DC in 1997, most actors in Britain and America have heeded the advice. As a classically trained Shakespearian actor , Stewart had wanted to play the titular character in Othello but stated that when he got to the point in his career where he felt he was experienced enough to play it, it had become no longer socially acceptable for white actors to put on blackface to play the role. Patrick Stewart, playing Othello, is the only white actor in an otherwise all Afro-American cast. In 1997, Patrick Stewart played Othello with the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.) in a "photo negative" production of a white Othello with an otherwise all-black cast. Patrick Stewart is a commanding, fascinating Othello in the Shakespeare Theatre’s production of this saddest of all the Elizabethan tragedies. This bold, new look at the play highlights one of its major […]