Flyerer Of The Week: The Underground Shakespeare Company Presents Othello

Underground Shakespeare Company is redefining Shakespeare (hear us out)! Their newest production, Othello, is set in Vietnam War era, a time substantially more relevant than Venice in the 1500s. If the flyerers themselves are any indicator, this show is bound to be crazy. It might even get shut down by Penn police...

What are you guys flyering for?

We are part of the Underground Shakespeare Company and we have a show going on tonight and tomorrow at 8pm in the Rodin rooftop lounge. We're showing Othello and setting it in Vietnam.

What was your best flyering experience?

The last time we were flyering for a show we ran out of flyers but we were still shouting about the show "As You Like It" and auditions for "Othello". We were grandstanding a little bit and I was standing on these things [the little railings on Locust].

We were swinging on the lampposts too. Newsies style. 

All of a sudden, one of the Penn police officers rides up on her bike and is like: "Ladies what's going on here?". We told her we were flyering for a show and she tells us: "I got a call that there were these four crazy ladies on Locust harassing people". And then her supervisor shows up on his bike and another guy comes over on his bike and we have to explain three times that no, we're not crazy and no, we're not harassing people.

They're all talking on their walkie-talkies telling everyone that its under control.

We flyered them too, I think she said she was gonna come to the show.

Yeah, so one time we almost got arrested for flyering. Fun fact!

I just like to tell people we got arrested.

Why Vietnam? 

Well you have the right person to ask, this is our director! 

Yeah basically I really wanted Othello to be a girl and I thought the Vietnam setting was really good for that because we're setting it not in the throw of the Vietnam War but sort of towards the end in 1971. Basically this is when morale is really low and there's no hope and no way to get home so they instate a militarily-skilled woman as the general to get them home. This is the basis for why she gets into power but she faces a lot of discrimination because of it. It covers a lot of the themes of the play but doesn't cast anything aside that's already there.

So there's a little girl-power in the show?

Oh, definitely. The way that the actors who came out for the show worked out, it was just really clear where everyone had to get put.

Yeah, casting was immensely difficult but at the same time I'm so happy with it.

Okay, tbh all I know about Othello is from high school English class, but it's more entertaining than that?

I mean objectively I will say yes.

Absolutely. I had never read the show before I auditioned but I think its a really great show. There's kind of this perception that Shakespeare shows are really boring and strenuous but I think we do a really good job of making it accessible to everyone and an immersive experience instead of just like the audience and the performers.

So definitely not high school English class!

Would Othello make a good flyerer?

I think she would be, I think she'd be really good at making speeches. I think she'd be very intimidating.

Yeah, she's firm and knows what she's doing. Just as long as someone doesn't say someone stole your handkerchief. She might scare people off actually.