Reviewed by Tracey Paleo, Gia On The Move

As a female driven production, Othello & Otis is sentient in its ability to explore white apathy towards the African American community.

Interwoven by spoken word, movement and singing – going back and forth from the songs of Otis Redding to text by Shakespeare, musical duo Ibeyi, songwriter Solange Knowles and others, at times it is also an indictment, and occasionally, a wail.

Both visually and verbally driven, cued heavily by the vocal talking points of our 44th U.S. President Obama, this production offers an in-your-face enlightenment about how African-Americans actually experience life in the ‘land of the free’; their challenges, their despairs, their unfortunate parallels to dominant white culture.

It’s a big idea with a lot of guts. But somehow the production gets cluttered by the strung together variety, including the modern movement choreography set in its midst…occasionally one excerpt getting drowned out by the next.  The presentation doesn’t always support itself in a way that it could. There is no clear call to action for white culture if one is meant to be had by this wake-up call to conservatives and liberals alike.

Fortunately, Othello & Otis‘ loudest narrator Francesca Gamez, also a co-writer on the project (along with Tinks Lovelace), gives strong voice to the most important ideas, and overall we understand the unmistakable, justified anger and need for empathy and acceptance of it.

Copyright © 2018 Gia On The Move. All Rights Reserved.

Written exclusively for Gia On The Move. No part of this Gia On The Move publication, writing, video, or audio may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Copyright infringement is a crime. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Gia On The Move Permissions Coordinator”. For more information please review our reprints and permissions page.