BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID;X-RICAL-TZSOURCE=TZINFO:-//com.denhaven2/NONSGML ri_cal gem//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:Othello - Beware\, my lord\, of your friends \; Presentin g the first of three offerings in it's 21st annual Shakespeare in the Pa rks series\, the Hudson Shakespeare Company returns with "Othello"\, Sha kespeare's study of proud man's descent into jealous rage on Tuesdays\, July 19 &\; 26 at 7:30p.m at Monument Park\, 1588 Palisade Avenue\, F ort Lee and Wednesdays\, June 20 and 27 7:30pm at Staib Park\, 459 Davis Avenue.. Setting the production in the mid 1800's Italy and Cyprus\, th e company presents the portrait of a perfect couple in the celebrated wa rrior general (Michael Hagins) and Desdemona (Melissa Meli)\, daughter o f a powerful Venetian senator (Tom Cox) whose love is destroyed by a jea lous and sociopathic officer Iago (Jon Ciccarelli) \; The plot:Othel lo the Moor\, a seasoned and traveled general employed by the Venetian s tate against the Ottoman empire\, has secretly married Desdemona\, a dau ghter of the senator Brabantio. Iago\, an ensign nursing resentment agai nst Othello\, enlists the help of Rodorigo (Mark Levy)\, a disappointed suitor of Desdemona. They wake Brabantio in the middle of the night with the news of his daughter's elopement. Brabantio takes the case to the s enate where\, learning that she has married Othello of her own accord\, he disowns his daughter. Othello is immediately ordered to the Venetian colony of Cyprus to repel a threatened Ottoman invasion. Desdemona sails with her husband\, taking with them her companion Emilia\, who is also Iago's wife\, and Othello's lieutenant Michael Cassio (Reynaldo Piniella )\, newly promoted over Iago's head.Once in Cyprus\, Iago puts his plan to plant suspicion in Othello's mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with Cassio. He engineers a drunken brawl for which Cassio is bla med and dismissed by Othello. Desdemona intercedes on Cassio's behalf bu t her constant pleas to Othello for his reinstatement only serve to conv ince Othello that Cassio is her lover. Iago acquires a treasured handker chief that belonged to Desdemona and uses it as 'proof of the affair. In creasingly maddened by jealousy\, Othello orders Iago to kill Cassio and strangles Desdemona himself. Emilia discloses her husband's plot and Ot hello\, tormented by grief and remorse\, kills himself. Iago\, after mur dering his own wife\, is left to the justice of the Venetian state.Writt en in 1603 in response to a popular big budget court production called " The Masque of Blackness"\, Shakespeare took a drastic turn in presenting a black protagonist as a worthy hero and not as a mustache twirling vil lain that many of his contemporaries had done. Although\, the story was based on a book called "The Hecatommithi" written by Italian author\, Ci nthio\, Shakespeare expanded a basic love triangle story with fleshing o ut the relationship of Othello and Desdemona on real-life interracial ma rried couples that were present in his London. Contemporary records indi cate scores of North African and sub-Saharan African emigrants that had legally married local London women. Like Othello\, these people\, howeve r\, hard working\, always had something to prove themselves in a society ever suspicious of them. In Iago\, Shakespeare almost foresees modern p sychiatric insight into sociopathic people who perform horrific crimes s imply for the sheer enjoyment of it. After a lifetime spent fighting man y enemies at the end of a sword\, Othello\, is undone by a friend.Hudson Shakespeare is its 21st season of traveling Shakespeare. They will be r eturning with a 1940's Looney Tunes version of "Comedy of Errors" on Tue sdays\, July 17 &\; 24 at 7:30p.m at Monument Park\, 1588 Palisade Av enue\, Fort Lee and Wednesdays\, July 18 and 25 7:30pm at Staib Park\, 4 59 Davis Avenue. Also their final play\, the lost Shakespeare play "Card enio" in a Zorro meet Shakespeare setting will be performed on Tuesdays\ , August 7 &\; 14 at 7:30p.m at Monument Park\, 1588 Palisade Avenue\ , Fort Lee and Wednesdays\, August 8 and 15 7:30pm at Staib Park\, 459 D avis Avenue. Patrons are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket and all performances are free. For more information\, please call 973 449 7 443 or visit hudsonshakespeare.homestead.com URL:http://fortlee.patch.com/events/othello-at-monument-park-fort-lee SUMMARY:Othello at Monument Park\, Fort Lee LOCATION:1588 Palisade Ave\, Fort Lee\, NJ 07024: 1588 Palisade Ave\, For t Lee\, NJ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR