Kat and I recently saw Shakespeare in the Park at Durham Central Park for their performance of Othello, where I was hit with a quote I can’t forget. We knew the show was coming because days prior, an assembly of folks dressed in odd clothes and wearing long swords walked into the Durham Food Hall. I guess they needed lunch in between rehearsing.

For the show, we set up our camping chairs in the modest Central Park pavilion space across the street from our house. The troupe worked through some technical difficulty with the PA system for the first few minutes, but after that, it was smooth sailing.

Believe it or not, I had never seen Othello, and had only the vaguest idea of the plot. I enjoyed their performance and the story was engaging.

The whole reason I’m writing this post in July for a play I saw in May, is that I’ve been gripped by a line from Othello that hasn’t let go:

Poor and content is rich and rich enough,
But riches fineless is as poor as winter
To him that ever fears he shall be poor.
Othello (3.3.197)

It hit pretty close to home. I had to look up “fineless”, but otherwise I felt like he was describing my current state. Maybe a modest upbringing has some residual effects I haven’t grappled with yet? At least, that’s what my sister is always trying to tell me.

Thanks Durham Central Park and Switch Theater Company for bringing some art into our lives!