Opening night of ‘Othello’ took place last night at the Barrymore Theatre in NYC. Photos of Jake during the curtain call, backstage with his family, greeting former president Joe Biden with the cast after the show, and at the after party have been added to our gallery. ‘Othello’ runs from now through June 8th. Get tickets here!
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Public Appearances > 2025 > ‘Othello’ Opening Night – Curtain Call
Public Appearances > 2025 > ‘Othello’ Opening Night – Backstage
Public Appearances > 2025 > ‘Othello’ Opening Night – After Party
We’re talking about faith. Last December, just before Christmas, actor Denzel Washington was baptized and licensed as a minister, and so it hasn’t taken long, chatting about his return to Broadway playing the title role in Othello, for conversation to turn to matters of belief. Not religious, per se; Shakespeare’s great tragedy turns on themes of love and jealousy and betrayal. Perhaps, I muse, Othello’s choice to trust the evidence of his eyes—a planted handkerchief—over his innocent wife Desdemona’s protests that she has never strayed, is a kind of loss of faith, a misguided embrace of rationality over spirit. “Well, sure, he wants proof,” pipes up Jake Gyllenhaal, who co-stars in the production as Iago, planter of the aforementioned handkerchief, “and, Iago keeps leading him back to the handkerchief—look, look!—but the only reason he can manipulate Othello that way is that they have a bond. They’ve fought together, trusted each other with their lives. He knows this is a man with a great sense of faith and love.”
