PHOTO
Desdemona and Emilia are best friends. Unfortunately, their husbands are both difficult to deal with.
In her new play, Stitched, Ōtepoti theatre all-rounder Ellie Swann has picked up the quill to look behind the curtain of one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies — Othello.
Set in the spaces “between the scenes”, Stitched weaves together what little is known about Desdemona and Emilia, and adds imagination.
Ellie Swann said the storytelling in Stitched was unapologetically about women, focusing on the perspectives of Desdemona and Emilia, and avoiding naming their powerful husbands.
“In this world we don’t need to know the men’s names — after 400 years of analysing their motives, the nicknames they have acquired will suffice to tell us what we need to know,” she said.
“These two women share their hobbies, humour and hopes, as whole human beings.”
Swann wrote the play in a “post-Covid burst of theatrical optimism, with the support of the DCC Professional Theatre Fund”, and is producing it through her company Moose of Fire Productions.
She said writing, directing and acting in Stitched posed some interesting challenges, so it was great that she was performing the piece alongside her Wellington-based daughter, actor Laniet Swann.
“We know each other so well that we have our own short-hand, which really helps during rehearsals — especially as most of them have been over the computer,” she said.
“We have had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs.
“It has been exciting to come back to the script with the perspective of a director and actor.
“We have found a lot of new things in it around the characters’ intentions and influences — especially as they are so central to Othello without actually having any agency of their own.
“It has also been fun to explore again all the ‘Easter eggs’ for Shakespeare fans in the play — it is full of references, sayings, and jokes on the plays.”
• Stitched will be staged at the New Athenaeum Theatre, which Swann manages, from September 17 to 26 at 7.30pm, with a 2pm Sunday matinee. Tickets available from newathenaeumtheatre.com