Emilia (Othello) the ensign's wife is in the final sentence of the tale when, long after Desdemona's murder and once her husband is dead, she reveals what she knows of the past. Though Emilia is mentioned in 1.3 when Othello asks Iago to allow his wife to accompany Desdemona to Cyprus as her attendant, the character first appears on stage in 2.1 when she disembarks in Cyprus with Iago, Desdemona, and Roderigo. She banters briefly with her companions before leaving the stage, presumabably in Desdemona's entourage. Though not specifically mentioned, she probably appears as Desdemona's attendant at the beginning of 2.3, then
Othello America to feature a black actor playing Othello with an otherwise all-white cast (there had been all-black productions of the play before). It ran for 296 performances, almost twice as long as any other Shakespearean play ever produced on Broadway. Although it was never filmed, it was the first lengthy performance of a Shakespeare play released on records, first on a multi-record 78 RPM set and then on a 3-LP one. Robeson had first played the role in London in 1931 in a cast that included Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona and Ralph Richardson as Roderigo, and would return to it