Othello in popular culture Ballet in Hamburg on 27 January 1985, with Gamal Gouda as Othello, Gigi Hyatt as Desdemona, and Max Midinet as Iago. The work remains in the repertoire of the Hamburg Ballet, seeing its 100th performance in 2008. In 2002, modern dance choreographer Lar Lubovitch created a full-length ballet in three acts based on the Shakespeare play and Cinthio's tale with a score by Elliot Goldenthal. The work has been staged by the San Francisco Ballet with Desmond Richardson, Yuan Yuan Tan, and Parrish Maynard in the principal roles. The ballet was broadcast on PBS's "Great Performances: Dance in America" and
Desdemona as "Othello" and out of character for Desdemona. Today, however, the purpose of the passage is sometimes viewed as a depiction of Desdemona's awareness of the way of the world, and her persistence in pursuing the exchanges as a characteristic innocent overconfidence displayed elsewhere in the play (3.3.41–83, 3.4.90ff). On 8 December 1660, Thomas Killigrew's new King's Company acted "Othello" at their Vere Street theatre, with Margaret Hughes as Desdemona – possibly the first time a professional actress appeared on a public stage in England. She played Desdemona in the performance of "Othello" seen by Samuel Pepys on 6 February