I think the theatre should have been aware that there would have been protests. A theatre company like the Stratford Shakespeare Festival has declared itself colour-blind in its casting, but I doubt they'd cast a white person in what has become the symbol of black equality in the theatre. It's considered the plum part of a black actor's career and the Edmonton theatre here might have avoided this by casting a black woman if it was to be a woman.

It's true that Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles, and Anthony Hopkins have all played Othello on film. But each actor opted to make the Moor an Arab rather than a black African. But even brown-face is frowned upon with the large number of ethnic actors available.

Of course, it would help to know if the cast had any people of colour. The play isn't so much about race as it is class and the notion of insider/outsider. But black actors have been blocked from leading roles for so long that it's deemed unacceptable to not cast a black Othello.