Some serious star power is heading to the East Village next fall, when Daniel Craig will play the villainous Iago opposite David Oyelowo as the title character in William Shakespeare‘s tragedy, Othello, at New York Theatre Workshop.
Sam Gold, who won a Tony Award this year for the musical Fun Home, will stage the production, for which exact dates and additional cast have yet to be announced. Gold brought the project to NYTW with Craig and Oyelowo attached; it will mark the in-demand director’s first time tackling Shakespeare in a professional production.
NYTW is currently gearing up for the world premiere of Lazarus by David Bowie and Enda Walsh, inspired by the novel The Man Who Fell to Earth. Directed by Ivo van Hove, the play with music stars Michael C. Hall, Cristin Milioti and Michael Esper. It begins preview performances Nov. 18 and officially opens Dec. 7.
Othello will mark the first off-Broadway production for Craig, who starred on Broadway opposite Hugh Jackman in A Steady Rain, and with Rachel Weisz and Rafe Spall in Betrayal, both of which were sellout runs. He will return as James Bond onscreen later this month in Spectre.
Best known for his breakout performance as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in last year’s Selma, classically trained London stage actor Oyelowo previously appeared off-Broadway in the title role of Prometheus Bound. His upcoming films include A United Kingdom, with Rosamund Pike; the Nina Simone biopic Nina, with Zoe Saldana; and Mira Nair‘s Queen of Katwe, with Lupita Nyong’o.
