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“My Travail’s History”: Perspectives on the Roads to Othello, Stratford-upon-Avon 1959

This article seeks to unite theatre history with the 'real' histories of economics, ideology and race by looking beyond conventional archive materials, tracing the genesis of one of the 20th century's most lauded yet also undermined performances: that of singer, actor, athlete, and anti-fascist activist Paul Robeson as Othello in 1959. The study incorporates archival materials from the RSC and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, as well as those from less likely sources, including records held by the FBI and MI5. These materials reveal the tireless efforts of the American and British authorities to prevent Robeson from using the role of Othello as a vehicle for his activism, drawing parallels between the actor's plight and Sergei Yutkevich's 1956 Russian Othello, in which he was refused the right to star despite having received great acclaim for his performances of the role in London (1930) and on Broadway (1942-45). In contextualising the socio-political backdrops against which these earlier productions were set, the article addresses the racial opposition and misrepresentation faced by Robeson for more than 30 years, shedding light on the ways the actor made Othello a symbol of race relations in the twentieth century and how his opponents, echoing the conflicts in Shakespeare's play.