In 1964, at the age of thirty-three, James Earl Jones won an Obie award for his portrayal of Othello in Joseph Papp's production in Central Park, New York. Over the next twenty-five years he went on to play the Moor a further six times, with his 1982 performance being described as 'definitive, masterly, magnificent'. He brings his vast wealth of experience to this book and articulates the themes and issues in the play, looking at the personal and universal significance of the drama.