Replay (October)

October replays 1816, as if the world has just been at war. Otello is the toast of Venice, but he loves Elmiro’s daughter. So does Elmiro, and Rodrigo the Doge’s son, and his friend, slippery Iago. The awesome turn to the awful foursome, as each would punish Desdemona sooner than love her. Possession grabs her wrist. She’s most intimate with Emilia, the friend who listens. Desdemona separates the warring interests, at whose hand she will die. There she reunites with her lost girlfriend, Isaura. A gondolier laments, but in four years Italy will war with itself, once more, with feeling.