September 21, 2006

One Book project stars Othello

By Wendy Leopold

In a campus first, Northwestern is inviting its entire community — from freshmen to full professors, department assistants to top administrators – as well as the Evanston community to join in the reading, exploration and enjoyment of a single great book, Shakespeare’s “Othello.” The One Book, One Northwestern initiative kicks off Thursday, Sept. 21, with free popcorn and an outdoor screening of “O,” an Othello-inspired film set in a small town high school and starring teen heartthrob Josh Hartnett.

Modeled after Chicago’s One Book, One Chicago program and dubbed “Project Othello,” the initiative will feature eight weeks of free, public programming around Shakespeare’s renowned tragedy, including a Nov. 1 lecture by Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka. Note: A schedule of upcoming events follows.

“Othello lends itself to so many entry points and concerns,” says Wendy Wall, English professor, Renaissance literary scholar and major force behind the “one book” initiative. About a Muslim living in Venice who converts to Christianity, Wall said the play was chosen for its multicultural themes, its intense look at the “green-eyed monster” called jealousy, exploration of villainy, influence around the world and meditation on theatre itself.

Over the summer, Northwestern freshmen entering the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and School of Communication got a jumpstart on Project Othello. Not only did the University mail them free copies of “Othello,” it created an interactive Web site that allowed professors and students to talk to one another about the play and view images of 17th century Venice, watch clips from film adaptations of “Othello” and learn just what London theatres looked like in Shakespeare’s day.

Twenty-five Othello Fellows, students with interests and majors that range from history to theatre and from economics to radio/tv/film, “will serve as cultural commentators at Othello events and raise questions about how ‘Othello’ has been reinterpreted, absorbed in cultures around the world, and remained fresh for 400 years,” Wall said.

A partial schedule of “Project Othello” events follows. All take place on the Evanston campus.

• 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, Norris University Center East Lawn. An outdoor Screening of “O,” a film update of “Othello” set in a small town high school, stars Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles and Josh Hartnett. Free popcorn.

• 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, 201 University Hall. “Othello in Different Contexts” is a roundtable discussion with Northwestern sociologist Wendy Griswold, historian Ed Muir and literary scholar Wendy Wall who will explore Othello is read by experts in different disciplines.

• 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 5, 107 Harris Hall. Marjorie Garber, Harvard University William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of English and American Literature and Language and of Visual and Environmental Studies, will present a lecture titled, “Black and White and Read All Over: Othello and Modern Culture.” An eminent humanities scholar, her book, “Shakespeare After All” was chosen by Newsweek as one of 2004’s five best nonfiction books.

> For more information, call (847) 491-7294, e-mail english-dept@northwestern.edu or go to www.english.northwestern.edu/othello.