Initial Ideas

I choose to do Othello for my interactive environment as I am fairly familiar with the play, having studied it for A Level, and have a few ideas for starting points. I also started my research by watching a couple of adaptations, one being a 2008 performance in the Globe theater (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F1ADo96mPU), starring Eamonn Walker as Othello, and the other being the 1995 film version starring Laurence Fishburne as Othello. I chose to watch these two because one is a film adaptation and one is a live performance of the play, yet both follow the story very closely, even though in the film version it is obviously condensed down to fit two hours.

I decided to set my scene during the last two scenes involving Othello and Desdemona, Act 4, Scene 3, and Act 5, Scene 2. I chose these two scenes as one depicts a foreshadowing of Desdemona's death, and one is the final scene where the play culminates and Desdemona dies.

Here are some screenshots I took from the Globe performance:

Act 4, Scene 3-

The only objects present in this scene are a stool and a box where Emilia puts Desdemona's jewellery.

Act 5, Scene 2-

The bed in this scene is simple in the Globe version as it it pulled out on stage.

When Othello enters this scene he can be seen holding a sword, perhaps a heavier type of rapier, as it looks somewhat similar to the image below, which I found in a blog post about the "Significance of Swords" in Othello (http://158s.edublogs.org/2014/10/20/othello-significance-of-swords/)

Here Iago stabs Emilia with perhaps a dagger of some sort. 

1995 Film version:

Act 4, Scene 3-

Deviating from the play version a little bit, the film version has Emilia run a bath and bathe Desdemona, rather than get her ready for bed by undressing her and making her bed. However, this take is more interesting as there is more happening in the scene, so I will set my scene where you can see the bedroom from a different angle where the bath area is the central focus.

We can see that the bed is surrounded by sheer drapes.

Act 5, Scene 2-

Here Othello enters and instead of holding a candle there are lights along the room which he puts out, to signify the "put out the light".

Here Othello is seen with a single candle, which I will include in my scene. He is also sat on a chair next to the bed, which will flesh out the setting a bit.

Iago stabs his wife with a dagger. I feel that I could include Iago's dagger in this to show that by the end of the play, after all Iago's scheming and cunning, he is finally exposed and in some way mirrors Othello in killing his wife.

Here we also glance a dagger that Othello uses to kill himself. This will probably be near the bed, as in the Globe version Othello grabs a sword from under the mattress. In the play when his sword is taken from him by Montano, he also states "I have another weapon in this chamber; It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper". However, this also indicates that he could have a rapier hidden somewhere and this is the sword he stabs himself with. 

As for the bedroom, in Act 2, Scene 3 a view of the bedroom can be seen below. Here we can see the bed, with its big columns and drapes, a mirror, a chest of some sort, table and chairs, candles, a rug, and in the side not in view, a bath. Generally the atmosphere is quite dim due to the candlelight. 

I also referred to SparkNotes and read the summaries and key facts. I also repurchased the book and skimmed it. When I chose the scenes I wanted to explore, I highlighted important quotes that I felt were key to the story development or understanding of the characters.

I looked up some videos on YouTube to see if there were any educational resources, such as games or visually interesting videos, and I found a few:

This one is just an interesting take on a summary https://youtu.be/Gij5xNvCYiQ

Here is a visual summary by SparkNotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp6LqSgukOU

However after searching extensively I cannot seem to find any actual games of any sort for Othello, other than the board game.