The night after seeing Othello preformed at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, I found myself being ushered into the cast party and meeting most the troupe. The unbelievable turn of events were kicked off when my homeboys Hollis and Charlie and I split up on a night in Stratford-upon-Avon to have our individual adventures. I decided, on a whim, to sit with a collection of cheery-faced strangers at local bar called the Union. Amongst the group was one woman who, after hearing about my love of freestyling, insisted I freestyle as she sang. Quickly after our impromptu acapella concert started, I realized I wasn’t listening to the vocals of any normal individual. I asked my new friend Anita if she had any music I could buy on iTunes, however, she responded telling me she did not have music on iTunes, she simply worked for the theatre company in town. I told her I had just seen (and loved) the performance of Othello that happened the night before and her face lit up. “I’m going to take you to see all the actors!” she exclaimed smiling.

I barely had time to process my shock because, before I new it, she had me in hand ushering me past layers of security to the second floor where the party was bumping. Just seconds after arriving, I find myself shaking hands with Hugh Quarshie, the actor who played Othello in the play the night before. Anita continued to introduce me to most of the people at the party, members of the cast and others who just worked at the theatre. After chatting with the partygoers I texted my homies Hollis and Charlie (who I had separated from less than a hour before) telling them to get their butts over to the theatre at once. After getting them into the party and introducing them to some of the people I had met, we went into full wedding-crasher mode. Well, not really. But we did go in on the dance floor.

The most surreal part of the entire experience was seeing the members of the cast as totally normal party people the nightafter seeing them in dramatic, and tragic Shakespearian roles. An hour or so passed and as more of the actual cast and crew left, it became apparent that my friends and I did not belong. A scrawny security man proceeded to kick us out, walking us all the way to the door. However, at that point, we were too happy to careand walked back to our quaint little home in glee.

Yours truly with Hugh Quarshie (Othello)

With Joanna Vanderham (Desdemona)

Charlie, Hollis, and me with Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (Cassio)