'Othello: The Opera & Play Enmeshed' Unfolds At Bay Street

SAG HARBOR, NY — Shakespeare will find new life at the Bay Street Theater Saturday night.

Divaria Productions is set to unveil "Othello: The Opera & Play Enmeshed" Sept. 14 at 8 p.m.; tickets cost $25 to $50 and can be purchased here.

"'Othello: The Opera and Play Enmeshed' is an exploration of the timeless classic through theatre, opera and dance," a release said. "The project will feature selections from Verdi's opera in Italian — singers, string quartet, pianist, stage director — parts of Shakespeare's text with professional actors, and dancers, all three of which will transmit the essence of the story through different mediums. The story of Othello concerns themes of jealousy, misplaced trust and exclusion," which still resonate today.

The performance is presented by Ashley Bell and her brother, Andrew Bell, who co-directs the show with Anton Armendariz. Ashley Bell, who was also involved in project and script development, will be singing the role of Desdemona; that part will be acted by Rivka Borek.

"We feel that Shakespeare’s 'Othello' is even more relevant today than it was 400 years ago," Bell and Armendariz said. "Iago and Othello are not people who should be seen as foreign to us although they have dark parts to their characters. All of us have one side that we want the world to see — and another hiding in the shadows."

She and Armendariz added: "In today’s world where there is so much violence, crime and hate, it’s important for us to understand and relate to these dark sides of ourselves so that we can prevent future issues from occurring. During the production we see how the different personalities of the characters evolve from the image that they portray publicly to the most basic instincts of humanity: anger, fury, jealousy, mistrust."

The goal, they said, has long been to do a production combining opera and Shakespeare, "which are the two grandest art forms in theatre both in terms of their history, the amount of training required, and their drama. This production gives us the opportunity to work with an incredible varied and diverse group of artists, and we can explore the powerful themes of Shakespeare with two different interpretations."

Divaria Productions’ mission is to make opera accessible and approach able by presenting high quality opera in intimate settings with dynamic and modern productions, they said.

"We strive to blend opera with theatre and always include text in English and actors in our productions to make them more comprehensible to those unfamiliar with opera. Those unfamiliar with Shakespeare will find a production in which they are invited to feel part of the action. The lighting and acting and singing performances will help illuminate Shakespeare's words," the pair agreed.

The themes of Othello ring just as true today as they did 400 years ago, Bell and Armendariz said. "Jealousy, mistreatment of women, and the abuse of power are themes that are relevant across space and time," they said. "We hope that production will help enlighten the audience as to the root of these emotions. We want the audience to come away from the performances pondering the questions of life."

The most meaningful part of the journey to breathe life into the show for Armendariz centered on the character of Iago. "For me, the actual protagonist is Iago and what I tried to do was for Iago to always be present in the life of the other protagonists."

Bell added: "The most meaningful part of the process for me has been creating the script and deciding which parts of the opera and play to include and how to make everything flow. What I'm most excited about is seeing the cast bring it to life," she said.

The show has a message for the audience: "We all need to explore and embrace our dark sides because anyone can snap."