The Othello Session Online:
The Colour of Skin
Over the past year, Cyclone has had to adapt its approach to meet the needs of teachers at these difficult times and to provide students as always with insightful and exciting Shakespeare offerings. This saw us adapting our Sessions to an online format. Learning from this experience and we are proud to announce that this year we have produced a new show: The Othello Session Online: The Colour of Skin.
This show begins as The Black Lives Matter Movement reaches its fever pitch. Othello, thinks this is a movement that doesn’t affect him due to his status in the military and because he is a light skinned Mauritanian. However, FIX news, emboldened by a jealous Iago, doesn’t share this view. They join forces to malign Othello’s character, aiming to cast doubt on his fitness to lead and for daring to love a white woman. Director Peadar Donohoe and Actor Marcus Bale support the ensuing scenes and reports with discussions that will help prepare students for the Leaving Cert English paper.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Othello Session Online: The Colour of Skin comprises three webinars. Together with access to the three sessions, teachers will receive a thorough Resource Handout to use with their students. This will review major points presented on all the Webinars and provide supplementary exercises that teachers can use with their students if they wish. The Handout will also include an Audience Interaction sheet that will be instrumental for those students experiencing the session in the interactive format (See below).
HOW CAN THIS SHOW BE EXPERIENCED?
The Othello Session Online: The Colour of Skin can be experienced in two formats: Recorded Interactive or Recorded Non-Interactive.
HOW WILL THE Othello SESSION ONLINE RECORDED INTERACTIVE WORK?
Soon after you book tickets you will receive a detailed Resource Handout which will review major points covered on the webinars along with supplementary exercises that you can use with students. Alongside this handout, you will receive an Audience Interaction Sheet. This sheet should be completed by your students, then you will return the responses to us (by a given deadline), and webinars will be recorded with student contributions.
HOW WILL THE Othello SESSION ONLINE RECORDED NON-INTERACTIVE WORK?
Due to scheduling difficulties or other reasons, you may prefer to experience The Othello Session Online without student interaction. If that is the case, simply book tickets and watch a recorded performance of the session at any time you need at your own convenience. You don’t need to do anything else!
RECORDING ACCESS DETAILS
All recorded performances will be uploaded to a private page on our Website. Teachers will be sent a link and a password to access the recorded performance of their choice. Please note that passwords are valid for one week (Monday to Friday). If for whatever reason you need access to any of the Webinars later again in the year, please let us know and we will accommodate you.
RECOMMENDED SETUP FOR THE SESSION
The recommended set up for The Othello Session Online is that of a classroom or hall with a computer and projector so that the whole student group can experience the webinar together. If this is not possible, students will be able to experience the session from individual devices or participate from home.
TICKET PRICES:
Interactive Version: €9 per student
Non-Interactive Version: €7 per student
