The 1988 play by Ann-Marie MacDonald will preview at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 13, and run at 8 p.m., Nov. 14-17, with a concluding matinee at 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 18. All performances will be in the lab theater in the lower level of Tyler Hall on campus.
     The plot centers on Constance Ledbelly (Clarissa Bawarski), a doctoral candidate at Queens University. Constance theorizes the Shakespearean tragedies "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet" originally were written as comedies, but the character of the "wise fool" was overlooked.
As the play maneuvers through Constance's subconscious, it morphs into a calamitous mix of humor and action.
     "We have four actors in this play who are playing multiple characters," said director Rob Kristel, a senior adolescence education and theater dual major. "We have one actor (Nathan Keep) who is playing Romeo and Iago, two huge characters. Another one (Robin Rubeo) is playing Desdemona, Ramona and Mercutio, so they're even going opposite gender."
     John Limer-Nies plays Claude Night, Othello and Tybalt, and Shanna Fuld takes on a Juliet, a soldier and a servant.
     It is definitely a challenge, and yes they are all different, but you can really find a through line between every single character, whether they're the passionate young male love of Romeo or the sleazy, secretive and destructive Iago," Kristel said.
     Bawarski, a sophomore theater major, said the play puts a new twist on classic Shakespearean characters.
     "You get to see the characters almost in a completely different light – they're a lot more comical and a lot more relatable," she said. "You never know what's going to happen next. There are things happening everywhere. It's really fast-paced."
     Kristel, who is balancing his directorial duties in Oswego with student teaching at Westside Academy at Blodgett in Syracuse, said MacDonald's play "just spoke to us."
     "With the cohesion that we've got going and the trust that we have for each other

–  I don't think I've seen a show with this much trust – we've really gotten to a place where we are working together very well. I could not be more excited about what's going on," he said.

     Tickets are $13 ($7 for SUNY Oswego students) and are available at all SUNY Oswego box offices, online at http://tickets.oswego.edu or by calling 312-2141. All tickets for the preview are $5.