“Othello” original scene by Sam Witt, Meredith Janay, and Stella Gilbert ’22

Post by Stella Gilbert ’22.

In Mr. Reed’s IB English HL class, students had free rein to take on any creative project in response to Shakespeare’s Othello. Seniors Samantha Witt, Meredith Janay, and Stella Gilbert decided to collaborate to create an original scene as an extension of the end of the play. Sam wrote the passage, Meredith performed it as Desdemona, and Stella directed and edited the video. The group documented their creative process and stylistic choices in this notebook. Their final video and a series of quotes from the collaborators are below:


“While writing, I tried to mimic Shakespeare’s writing style by using techniques that he used throughout the play, such as Christian allusions, iambic pentameter, and the creation of new words. I also tried to mimic Desdemona’s voice by using vocabulary that I thought she would use, phrases that Desdemona used, and symbols from the play.”

Sam Witt

“Overall, as an actress I was able to delve into the character of Desdemona through examining the text to understand the intentionality behind Desdemona’s words, allowing my voice and body to inhabit the character properly.”

Meredith Janay

“Our process truly felt seamless; almost simultaneously, Sam carried out my lighting instructions, I practiced camerawork, and Meredith ran through blocking and lines.  I got to collaborate with Meredith as we shared our understandings of the text and of Desdemona as a character, both of which informed the stylistic decisions that appear in the final video.”

Stella Gilbert
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