Red Bull Theater's "Revelation Readings," an Obie Award-Winning reading series
exploring new and classic plays of heightened language, featured Mamie Gummer in a
one-night-only benefit reading of Paula Vogel's Desdemona, on October 01, 2007.
Having slept with Othello's entire encampment, Desdemona revels in her bawdy tales
of conquest. Her foils and rapt listeners are the other integral and re-imagined
women of this Shakespeare tragedy: Emilia, Desdemona's servant and the wife of Iago,
and Bianca, now a majestic whore of Cyprus. The loyal Emilia pesters
Desdemona about a military promotion for her husband. Her motive, however, is that
he leave her a wealthy widow, preferably sooner than later. Bianca, now a street-wise,
yet pain-fully naive prostitute, visits Desdemona thinking she is a very good friend
and fellow hooker. Bianca thinks the worst when she soon
discovers that Desdemona knows intimate details of the life of her lover, Cassio.
Though Desdemona has never been intimate with Cassio, her life is soon in danger
when her husband, Othello, also suspects her of infidelity.
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