Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced the full cast and creative team of Othello, directed by STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin and featuring Wendell Pierce in the titular role. Othello plays STC’s Harman Hall May 19–June 21.
Pierce is familiar to audiences because of his captivating performances on screen, including The Wire, Treme, and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, as well as CBS’ Elsbeth and Starz’ Raising Kanan, part of the Power franchise. His lengthy stage career has encapsulated both classic and modern works, from an early role at STC to a Tony Award-nominated turn in Death of a Salesman, the first Black actor to play Willy Loman on Broadway. Pierce will be honored with STC’s Will Award for Classical Theatre at the company’s annual All the World’s a Stage gala on April 13.
Playing Othello’s foil Iago opposite Pierce will be Ben Turner, who received a 2024 Helen Hayes for his role as Macduff in Godwin’s Macbeth featuring Ralph Fiennes, and made his DC debut in The Jungle in 2023.
“It is a great pleasure to partner with Wendell on this production, and to reunite with several actors who have appeared at STC over the last few seasons,” said Godwin. “Having Ben Turner return as Iago opposite Wendell, after his stunning work as Macduff in our production of Macbeth, is a wonderful opportunity and I think he will bring his signature charisma and subtlety to the role. Add to that Melanie Field, who brought such emotional depth to her roles in my productions of The Wild Duck and Uncle Vanya, and Lucas Iverson, who gave the Creature heart in last season’s Frankenstein, and we are indeed lucky to have so many talents returning to our stage. We add to them the captivating Olivia Cygan, who makes her debut with STC as Desdemona. I know she will be a powerful counterpoint to Wendell’s towering presence.”
Melanie Field (A League of Their Own), fresh from last season’s Uncle Vanya, will play Iago’s wife Emilia; and Lucas Iverson will play Cassio, the unwitting pawn in Iago’s plot. Following STC’s Frankenstein, Iversonjoined the cast for the second season of HBO’s The Pitt, now airing.
Making her STC debut as Othello’s bride Desdemona is Olivia Cygan,who was recently seen by DC audiences in the world premiere of Death on the Nile at Arena Stage, and was in the latest Broadway revival of Doubt with Liev Schreiber.
Other newcomers to STC are Joey Collins (To Kill a Mockingbird, Broadway tour, Bob Ewell), Giovanna Alcântara Drummond (Folger Theatre’s Romeo & Juliet), Derek Garza (Ford’s Theatre, Studio Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival), DC local Vish Shukla, and Daniel Velez (Broadway’s Romeo + Juliet).
DC favorites returning to STC are Jon Beal, Cole Sitilides, James Whalen, and Em Whitworth, as well as esteemed STC regular Craig Wallace (Merry Wives, Uncle Vanya, King Lear, Our Town), who will understudy Othello.
Simon Godwin directs Wendell Pierce (Elsbeth, The Wire) in Shakespeare’s towering tragedy about the power of words to kill. Venice is scandalized when its protector, Othello (Pierce), elopes with a nobleman’s daughter, while his most trusted lieutenant, Iago, seethes after being passed over for a promotion. Vengeful Iago speaks a word and contorts the world: transforming Othello’s faithful wife into an adulteress and upright men into beasts.
The creative team for this production includes Scenic Design by Susan Hilferty, and Costume Design by Susan Hilferty (Wicked, STC’s Uncle Vanya, The Oresteia, and others) and Sarita Fellows (co-design, Broadway’s Death of a Salesman); Lighting Designer Jen Schriever (STC’s Uncle Vanya, Romeo and Juliet); Sound Designer Christopher Shutt (STC’s Much Ado About Nothing); music by Composer Shiloh Coke (Henry IV, The Tempest at Donmar Warehouse); Fight Choreographer Robb Hunter (many STC credits including Guys and Dolls, King Lear), and Choreographer Jonathan Goddard (STC’s King Lear, Timon of Athens).
Dramaturgy is by STC Artistic Producer Drew Lichtenberg. Casting is by Danica Rodriguez. The Production Stage Manager for Othello is Laura Smith, Assistant Stage Managers are Lauren Pekel and Delaney Clare Dunster.
Othello runs May 19 – June 21, 2026, in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall, 610 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004. Ticketsstart at $35. For more information and tickets, please call the Box Office at 202.547.1122 or go online.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
Young Prose Night (Under 35) –Friday, May 22, 7:30pm
Audio Description – Saturday, June 13, 2pm
Open Captioning – Saturday, June 6, 2pm & 7:30pm
– Sunday, June 7, 2pm
– Wednesday, June 17, 2pm
– Thursday, June 18, 7:30pm
Post-Show Discussion – Wednesday, June 17, 7:30pm
CAST (in alphabetical order)
Jon Beal*, Ensemble, u/s Montano/Senator Romano, Cassio
Joey Collins*, Brabantio/Salarino, u/s Iago
Olivia Cygan*, Desdemona
Giovanna Alcântara Drummond*, Bianca
Melanie Field*, Emilia
Derek Garza*, Montano/Senator Romano
Lucas Iverson*, Cassio
Wendell Pierce*, Othello
Vish Shukla, Ensemble, u/s alternate Ensemble
Cole Sitilides, Ensemble, u/s Roderigo
Ben Turner*, Iago
Daniel Velez*, Roderigo
Craig Wallace*, u/s Othello
James Whalen*,Ensemble, u/s Duke of Venice, Brabantio/Salarino
Em Whitworth*, Ensemble, u/s Desdemona, Emilia
Due to a last-minute casting change, the role of the Duke of Venice will be announced at a later date.
CREATIVE TEAM
Director, Simon Godwin
Scenic Designer, Susan Hilferty
Costume Designers, Susan Hilferty and Sarita Fellows
Lighting Designer, Jen Schriever
Sound Designer, Christopher Shutt
Composer, Shiloh Coke
Choreographer, Jonathan Goddard
Fight Choreographer, Robb Hunter
Casting, Danica Rodriguez
Dramaturgy, Drew Lichtenberg
Stage Manager, Laura Smith*
Assistant Stage Managers, Delaney Clare Dunster* and Lauren Pekel*
CAST BIOGRAPHIES (in alphabetical order)
Jon Beal*
Ensemble, u/s Montano/Senator Romano, Cassio
STC: As You Like It. STCA: Romeo and Juliet, The Rover. REGIONAL: Chicago Shakespeare Theater: As You Like It, SS! Macbeth; Shakespeare in the Woods: Richard II, Love’s Labour’s Lost; Northlight Theatre: Georgina and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley; The Hypocrites: All Our Tragic, Dracula; Victory Gardens: An Issue of Blood; Lyric Opera of Chicago: Macbeth, Faust, Bel Canto, Otello, Siegfried, Die Walkure, Das Rheingold, The Barber of Seville, Rigoletto, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hansel and Gretel; Haymarket Opera Company: Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra, Tamerlano; AWARDS: TimeLine Theater Company (Joseph Jefferson Award, Fight Choreography). TV: Chicago PD. Training: MFA from the STC Academy; BA from Columbia College Chicago.
Joey Collins*
Brabantio/Salarino, u/s Iago
STC: Debut. NEW YORK: Broadway: The Glass Menagerie with Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson, Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Lonesome West. Off-Broadway: Bug, The Life of Galileo, 1599, The Good Soul of Setzuan, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, Vieux Carré, Antigone Project, alice, Alice, ALICE!, Beasley’s Christmas Party, St. Joan of the Stockyards. TOURS: To Kill A Mockingbird, A Celtic Celebration. REGIONAL: Studio: The Scenarios. Theater J: The Enemy Of The People. Barrington Stage: Forgiveness, Scott & Hem. Berkshire Theatre Festival: At Home At The Zoo (BTCA/Berkie Award), The Homecoming (BTCA/Berkie Nomination), The Weir, The Petrified Forest. White Heron: Annapurna. Rep. Theatre of St. Louis: A Steady Rain, Sideman, The Shape Of Things, Pillowman. Yale Rep: Kingdom of Earth. Berkeley Rep: Suddenly Last Summer. Pioneer Theatre: Proof. Cleveland Playhouse: Custody Of The Eyes. Merrimack Rep: Oceanside, Beat Generation. Cape Playhouse: Da. PlayMakers Rep: Tartuffe, The Christians. CATF: Captors, In A Forest Dark And Deep, Scott & Hem, Alley Theatre: Fool. FILM: There Is A Monster, Modern Man, Chest Candy, Dottie’s Thanksgiving Pickle, Bittersweet. TV: Law & Order, Kidnapped, All My Children. AWARDS: Audie Award for Mudbound. OTHER: Joey was a company member with the avant garde Irondale Ensemble for 10 years, in Brooklyn, NY. PERSONAL: Pronouns: he/him/his. About: Joey is a dad to two young actors, Celeste Collins & Ghost Collins. Teaching: Joey is a private acting coach for all ages. He also teaches Laban movement technique for actors, acting technique, and improvisation. Training: MFA: Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Meisner Technique.
Olivia Cygan*
Desdemona
NEW YORK: Broadway: Doubt (2024); developmental work with Roundabout Theatre, New York Stage and Film, Playwrights Realm, Rattlestick Theater, others; REGIONAL (selected): Death on the Nile (Arena Stage, premiere), Deceived (Bay Street), The Plot (Yale Repertory Theatre, premiere), The Burials (Steppenwolf Theatre Company, premiere),Feathers and Teeth (Goodman Theatre, premiere). FILM: Worldbuilding (upcoming); TV: Gotham (FOX). Olivia is a New York-based actor and native of Chicago. BS: Northwestern University. MFA: David Geffen School of Drama at Yale (Carol Finch Dye Award, 2023).
Giovanna Alcântara Drummond*
Bianca
REGIONAL: STC: Debut, Folger Theatre: Romeo & Juliet, Yale Rep: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale includes: Fucking A, Bodas de Sangre, Marys Seacole, Ruzante, BCTR: The Jag. FILM: Bea, Seriously. TV: Law & Order: SVU. AWARDS: Recipient of the Carol Finch Dye award in acting 2024. PERSONAL: she/her/hers. Giovanna is a first generation Brazilian-American multidisciplinary artist whose mediums include painting, writing, and movement research. GRP – O meu mundo! Comigo sempre! Malik James, with you and for you. Fund research for women’s health. Teaching: Embody Studio and Alma Yoga in Brooklyn and Manhattan respectively. Training: NYU BFA in theater (ETW) and journalism, YALE MFA in acting, GeX: A Guthrie Experience.
Melanie Field*
Emilia
STC: The Wild Duck, Uncle Vanya. NEW YORK: Broadway: The Phantom of the Opera, Evita. TOURS: Wicked. REGIONAL: Berkeley Repertory Theatre: Uncle Vanya. TV: A League of Their Own, American Horror Stories, Heathers, Florida Girls, The Angel of Darkness, Shrill, You, Killing It. PERSONAL: For my Kitty Girl and Mr. Wells. Training: Graduate of NYU and Yale School of Drama.
Derek Garza*
Montano/Senator Romano
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: PAC-NYC: Between Two Knees (OBIE Award Winner). TOURS: Canada & UK: Almighty Voice & Wife. REGIONAL: Arena Stage: Mother Road; Studio Theatre: People, Places & Things; Mosaic Theater: Nancy; Ford’s Theatre: Something Moving; Baltimore Center Stage: The Swindlers, Our Town; Idaho Shakespeare Festival: Midsummer Night’s Dream; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Othello, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It, Between Two Knees; Chicago Dramatist: The Mecca Tales; The Side Project: Push Button Murder, Mike & Seth; TimeLine Theatre: My Kind of Town. INTERNATIONAL: Native Earth Performing Arts (Toronto): Almighty Voice & His Wife; Video Cabaret (Toronto): The War of 1812. FILM: Voice of the Vespers, Canal Street, Untold Valor. TV: Betrayal, Chicago Fire, Power Book II: Ghost, Jimortal (Pilot). AWARDS: OBIE Award (Isaiah/Young Eddie in Between Two Knees). PERSONAL: He/Him. Derek is a DC based, OBIE Award winning Native American/Latino actor with an MFA in Acting.
Lucas Iverson*
Cassio
STC: Frankenstein. NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Donald Barthelme Humors You (Mercury Store/TheatreLab). REGIONAL: Yale Repertory Theatre: Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? | Williamstown Theatre Festival: YOU’RE AMAZING!!!!!!!, On Beckett with Bill Irwin. | Premiere Stages: Diversion | Texas Shakespeare Festival: Macbeth, As You Like It, Cyrano de Bergerac | Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey: Romeo and Juliet | TV: The Gilded Age, The Pitt. | TRAINING: BFA, Adelphi University. MFA, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. Dedicated to his dear friend and classmate, Malik James.
Wendell Pierce*
Othello
Wendell Pierce is a prolific award-winning actor with a body of work on stage, television and film that spans more than three decades. He currently portrays Captain C.W. Wagner in the third season of the critically acclaimed CBS drama Elsbeth, for which he received an AAFCA TV Honor and a Critics Choice Celebration of Black Cinema and Television Actor Award. He is also a recurring character, Ishmael “Snaps” Henry, on Starz’s Power Universe’s Raising Kanan. Universally hailed for his portrayal of Det. Bunk Moreland on HBO’s groundbreaking series The Wire, Pierce was also praised for his starring role as Antoine Baptiste on David Simon’s critically acclaimed series Tremé and as James Greer in the Amazon Originals Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan alongside John Krasinski. Last year he joined both the Marvel Universe in the feature film Thunderbolts and the DC Comics Universe in James Gunn’s Superman. Pierce returned to Broadway in 2022 for a limited engagement to reprise his portrayal of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Lead Actor in a Play.
Vish Shukla
Ensemble, u/s alternate Ensemble roles
STC: Debut. REGIONAL: NextStop Theatre: Guards at the Taj, Keegan Theatre: Apropos of Nothing, Folger Theatre: DC, I Love You. PERSONAL: Pronouns: he/him/his. About: Vish is excited to make his STC debut! Teaching: Shakespeare Theatre Company. Training: American University BA.
Cole Sitilides
Ensemble, u/s Roderigo
STC: Richard III. REGIONAL: Round House Theatre: The Inheritance, Parts One & Two; Los Angeles Theatre Initiative: The C Word; Theater J: Brighton Beach Memoirs; Ford’s Theatre: A Christmas Carol. TV: Guys Like You, Evil Stepmothers, For My Man. PERSONAL: he/him/his. Cole is an L.A.-based actor and recent graduate of the School of Theatre, Film, & Television at UCLA. Training: UCLA: BA in Theatre;
Ben Turner*
Iago
STC: Macbeth, The Jungle. UNITED KINGDOM: Noel Coward Theatre: Dr. Strangelove | Young Vic/Playhouse Theatre: The Jungle | National Theatre: My Brilliant Friend | Young Vic: Soldier’s Fortune | Wyndham’s Theatre: The Kite Runner; As You Like It | Royal Lyceum: The Iliad | Royal Court: Maidan: Voices from the Uprising | Donmar Warehouse: Richard II; Caligula | Almeida Theatre: Awake and Sing. NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: St. Ann’s Warehouse: The Jungle. TOURS: United Kingdom: Wyndham’s Theatre/UK tour: The Kite Runner | UK Tour: Measure for Measure/Habeus Corpus | Royal Shakespeare Company: The Merchant of Venice. FILM: Testament; Six Days; 300: Rise of an Empire; The Fifth Estate; Adulthood; Syriana. TV: House of the Dragon; The Ipcress File; Casualty; Doctor Who.
Daniel Velez*
Roderigo
NEW YORK: Broadway: Romeo + Juliet (dir. Sam Gold, Tony Award nomination). REGIONAL: Pride and Prejudice (Chautauqua Theatre Co.,) FILM: Pig Village (upcoming, Starring Don Lee and Michael Rooker). AWARDS: The Laura Pals Foundation Theater Prize in Acting for Outstanding Achievement and Exceptional Professional Promise (The Juilliard School, 2024), National YoungArts Winner in Theater. BFA in Acting: The Juilliard School.
Craig Wallace*
u/s Othello
STC: Numerous productions including Our Town, Merry Wives, Uncle Vanya, and King Lear (directed by Simon Godwin).REGIONAL: Round House Theatre: Radio Golf, Ink, “Master Harold”…and the Boys | Folger Theatre: Othello (Othello), Twelfth Night | Ford’s Theatre: Fences (Troy), Death of a Salesman (Willy Loman), The Laramie Project, A Christmas Carol (Ebenezer Scrooge) | Arena Stage: We Are Gathered, All the Way, The Great Society, K2 | Signature Theatre: Primary Trust, Angels in America | Berkeley Rep: Uncle Vanya | Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Shakespeare Santa Cruz. PERSONAL: Training: Howard University: BFA; Pennsylvania State University: MFA; Royal National Theatre, London.
James Whalen*
Ensemble, u/s Duke of Venice, Barbatio/Salario
STC: Uncle Vanya, King Lear. SIGNATURE THEATRE: Daphne’s Dive, Ragtime. WOOLLY MAMMOTH: Shipwreck. ARENA STAGE: The Heiress, The Little Foxes. EVERYMAN THEATRE: And Then There Were None, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ghosts, Tribes, The Dresser, The Beaux’ Stratagem, Time Stands Still, Betrayal and The Cripple of Inishmaan. ROUND HOUSE THEATRE: Small Mouth Sounds, NSFW. REP STAGE: True West, Boeing Boeing. THE OLNEY THEATRE CENTER: Colossal, DA. Theatre J: The Sisters Rosensweig, The Argument, Race. ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE: Dracula. The Washington National Opera: Porgy and Bess. THE KENNEDY CENTER: Shear Madness. MOSAIC THEATRE COMPANY: Fabulation. TV/FILM: Law and Order: SVU, House of Cards, VEEP, I Love You But I Lied, Money Matters, Mistaken, and A Beautiful Mind.
Em Whitworth*
Ensemble, u/s Desdemona, Emilia
STC: Julius Caesar, Sir Patient Fancy, The Imaginary Invalid. NEW YORK: Taproot Creatives: Without God As My Lover. REGIONAL: Everyman Theater: Deceived | American Stage: The Figs (World Premiere) | Bridge Street Theatre: Rude Mechanics | Washington Stage Guide: Arms and the Man | Folger Theater/Theater J: Nathan the Wise (World Premiere) | Spooky Action Theater: Maple & Vine | Flying V Theatre, Constellation Theatre, Mosaic Theatre, Forum Theatre, Synetic Theater. FILM: The Cost of Living (upcoming), Lottie (upcoming), The Backpage, The Infection. TV: Nightmare Next Door. OTHER: Adaptations for Synetic Theater: Titus Andronicus, The Snow Queen. PERSONAL: she/hers. Em acts, produces, and clowns, mostly in New York and DC. TRAINING: Stella Adler ECO Program, Synetic Theater.
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
SIMON GODWIN
Director; Artistic Director, Shakespeare Theatre Company
STC: The Wild Duck, Uncle Vanya, All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Created the Villian, Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Timon of Athens; Simon Godwin joined Shakespeare Theatre Company as Artistic Director in September 2019. He has served as Associate Director of National Theatre of London, Royal Court Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, and Royal & Derngate Theatre. INTERNATIONAL: UK: His work at the National Theatre includes Man and Superman (ft. Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma), Antony and Cleopatra (ft. Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo), Romeo & Juliet (ft. Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley and filmed for Sky Arts/PBS) | Work at Royal Shakespeare Company includes Hamlet, Timon of Athens (ft. Kathryn Hunter and reimagined in 2020 for Theatre for a New Audience and STC). AWARDS: Evening Standard/Burberry Award for an Emerging Director (2012).
SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY
For 40 years, the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company has been recognized as the nation’s premier classical theater. Classical plays are realized best not by originalism but by walking the path Shakespeare himself followed, creating works that spoke to his own contemporary audience. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Simon Godwin and Executive Director Angela Lee Gieras, STC tells vital stories in audacious forms, stories that are Shakespearean in the deepest sense, even if, and especially when, they are not written by Shakespeare. By focusing on works with profound themes and complex characters, STC’s artistic mission is unique among regional theaters: to bring to vibrant life groundbreaking, thought-provoking, and eminently accessible theater.
