OTHELLO.EXE
A speculative remix of Shakespeare’s Othello by Julius Rea
August 2 & 3

When a major theatre company replaces a Black actor with a humanoid robot to avoid “burdening” anyone with the trauma of portraying Othello, the robot’s programmer is tasked with rewriting its understanding of Black identity. Othello.exe is a sharp, speculative remix of Shakespeare’s tragedy, where artificial intelligence meets real-world bias, and long-standing questions about representation, audience, and authenticity come to the surface. 

Julius Rea is a playwright, journalist, producer, grant writer, and conflict resolution facilitator. With a degree in Philosophy from SFSU, he co-founded journalism theatre company The Forum Collective in 2018 and cooperatively-owned arts magazine Substrate Arts in 2022. Dedicated to holistic healing and equity, they create new projects 
on underrepresented narratives based on deeply-rooted research, interviews, 
and dramaturgy.