Denzel Washington Announces Return To Broadway, Starring In ‘Othello’
It was announced on Wednesday (Mar. 6) that Denzel Washington would be returning to Broadway. The legendary actor will star in a revival of Othello alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.
Helmed by Tony winner Kenny Leon, the production opens in Spring 2025 at a Shubert Theatre. The exact location has yet to be announced.
Washington, 69, will portray Othello—a general who loses his sanity over jealously—while Gyllenhaal will play Iago, the story’s villain who convinces Othello to question his wife Desdemona’s infidelity. The role of Desdemona has not yet been cast.
According to the New York Times, the last Broadway production of Othello took place in 1982, and starred James Earl Jones as Othello and the late Christopher Plummer as Iago.
Washington, himself, is a Tony Award winner. He starred in the 2010 production of Fences, which was later adapted into a film. He starred in the 2018 revival of The Iceman Cometh and also earned a Tony nomination for his role as Theodore Hickman. Previously, he appeared in the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, the 2005 production of Julius Caesar and made his Broadway debut in 1988 with Checkmates.
Gyllenhaal starred in the 2019 production of Sea Wall/A Life, the 2017 production of Sunday in the Park With George, and the 2015 production Constellations in 2015. He earned Tony nominations as producer and actor for Sea Wall/A Life, and a nod as one of the producers of Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play.
2025’s Othello marks a reunion between Leon and Washington, who previously worked together on Fences (2010) and A Raisin in the Sun (2014). The latter won Leon his Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play.
Ticketing information is currently unavailable, but fans can visit othellobway.com to sign up for alerts.
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