Beware, my lord, of jealousy… Against all odds, a Black man climbs the social ladder of a rigidly homogenous Venice—finding success in politics, military efforts, and even love. At his side, a woman born to status holds firm in her agency, even as her world reduces her to a symbol.

In the words of the director: “balanced atop a knife’s edge between devotion and destruction, this timeless and timely classic challenges all of us to witness how deceptively easy it is to destroy a life when loyalty is tantamount to love, and the world refuses to see beyond ‘us’ versus ‘“them.’”

For the first time, Theatreworks welcomes director Mikael Burke (Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Yale Rep) to helm this essential Shakespearean tragedy not seen on our stage since 1988.