DESDEMONA NUDE
(NZ Press Assn —CopyriflhO LONDON, Sept. 17. A London theatre audience last night applauded a performance of Shakespeare's “Othello,” in which the actress who portrayed Desdemona, Sarah Stephenson, aged 24, was naked for the last scene.
She accepted the role only last night, after the former lead, Kay Barlow, refused to appear nude. Miss Stephenson undressed after singing the Willow song. She took her final bow draped in a sheet. “The fact that Desdemona takes her clothes off adds to the scene, since it is her last chance to gfet Othello back,” she said. Playing Othello was a New Zealander, Bruce Purchase, a former member of Britain’s National Theatre. Sir Bernard Miles, founder of the theatre, was lago. The full-scale production, which emphasised in detail Shakespeare’s sexual imagery, was directed jointly by Peter Oyston and Julius Gellner.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19710918.2.143
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32715, 18 September 1971, Page 17
Word Count
139DESDEMONA NUDE Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32715, 18 September 1971, Page 17
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