Othello with Henry K. Bal, a Hawaiian actor of mixed ethnicity, playing Iago. Othello’s army was composed of both black and white mercenaries. Iago’s wife, Emilia was played by the popular black actress Marie Goodman Hunter. The 2016 production at the New York Theatre Workshop, directed by Sam Gold, also effectively used a mixed-race cast, starring English actors David Oyelowo as Othello and Daniel Craig as Iago. Desdemona was played by American actress Rachel Brosnahan, Cassio was played by Finn Wittrock, and Emilia was played by Marsha Stephanie Blake. As the Protestant Reformation of England proclaimed the importance of pious, controlled
Emilia Lanier The character Emilia speaks some of the first feminist lines on an English stage and could thus be seen as a contemporary allegory for Emilia Lanier herself, while the musicians in both plays, Prior argues, are allegories for members of her family. For these and other reasons it has been argued by Prior and other scholars that Lanier co-authored these plays, especially the 1623 First Folio version of "Othello" which contains 163 key lines not present in the 1622 Quarto. In addition, Hudson believes that another "signature" exists in "Titus Andronicus" where there are an Aemilius and a Bassianus, each