Keith Hamilton Cobb's American Moor Sets Off-Broadway Debut

Red Bull Theater announced today that Keith Hamilton Cobb's American Moor will have its off-Broadway premiere at Cherry Lane Theatre, in a production directed by Kim Weild and produced in collaboration with Evangeline Morphos, Frederick M. Zollo, Elizabeth I. McCann, and Tom Shea. The limited engagement will begin performances on August 27 ahead of a September 8 opening.

American Moor is described as follows: "An indomitable African-American actor auditioning for the role of Othello must respond to the dictates of a younger, white director who presumes to better understand Shakespeare's iconic black character. What could possibly go wrong? In this 90-minute, multi-award winning play, this fraught audition turns into an exploration of Shakespeare, race, and America (not necessarily in that order). Fueled by humor and passion, American Moor paints an essential portrait of an American theater unaware of its failures, and of the culture that supports it."

The creative team for the production includes Dede Ayite (costume design), Wilson Chin (set design), Alan C. Edwards (lighting design), and Christian Frederickson (sound design).

American Moor has had previous presentations at ArtsEmerson, the Anacostia Playhouse, Boston Center for the Arts, and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London.