Anti-racist Shakespeare: Othello

When I arrived at London's Globe Theatre to attend a CPD session, on the subject of teaching Othello and anti-racism, I wasn't sure what to expect – a lot of discussion? Role-play? But the experience turned out to be a mixture of collaborative text analysis, movement, language exploration and a look at the power of Shakespeare's words; and I can honestly say, I came away with lots of new ideas for teaching drama, and plenty to think about concerning how the everyday language we use – and the way we use it, can have real impact.

The session began with a tour of The Globe, and I can't deny, the opportunity to have a look backstage and tread the boards at this stunning theatre felt very special. Chris Nayak; professional actor and education practitioner who led our group, was there to tell us all the interesting facts about the theatre and answer any questions.

Our CPD session began with a warm-up activity: Hypnosis. Working in pairs, one person was asked to hold up their hand, while their partner imagined there was a dot in the middle of their palm. As they moved their hand, their partner followed the dot, first with their eyes, then with their whole body, before swapping over roles. We were asked how it felt to be both the leader and the follower? Who held the power in this relationship? And how could this relate to the relationship between Othello and Iago? I definitely felt like the influencer when I was the person leading the movements – a good activity to show how power can be applied in subtle ways.

We moved on to look at some of the phrases used in the play to shock and frighten Brabantio, and show other's racist attitudes towards Othello. We each chose a phrase and paired it with a choice of gesture, before shouting it as though we were trying to disgust someone. This activity packed a surprisingly powerful punch, illustrating some of the oppression Othello was under, asking us to think about the imagery words can conjure, the very way they sound and why we think Shakespeare chose them.

We followed this exercise by analysing Othello's address to Brabantio in Act 1 of this production, looking at how Shakespeare presents an anti-racist perspective by using the speech to dispel racist myths that Othello himself has internalised.

The whole session ran to two and a half hours, but time just flew by, thanks in a big part to the knowledge and enthusiasm of practitioner, Chris. On speaking with other attendees at the end of the session, everyone was fired up, with lots to take away from the experience, and, really looking forward to seeing Ola Ince's production of Othello – which was completely outstanding!