One night, Winston Churchill came to watch the play and sat in the front row. The play initially opened for a one-week preview run at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle from 1 to the 7 October 1951, then toured in several regional theatres before opening a six-week run in London on 18 October 1951.
Welles found he was hoarse in rehearsals, but regained his voice in time for opening night.
Realising his mistake, he froze in front of the audience, exclaimed "Fuck!", and exited while audience members asked "Did he just say what I thought he said?" In another performance, Welles so vigorously banged Gudrun Ure's head against a wall during the murder scene that members of the audience protested, and Welles had to apologise after the show, citing having got carried away. On the opening night, Welles mistook his cue, and accidentally walked on to the stage much too early, just after curtain up. The Ivy delivered to the theater each day packed with his individual lunch, which consisted of large sherried oysters, pâté de foie gras, a wheel of Runesten cheese, and other delicacies and always accompanied by a bucket of chilled Pouilly-Fumé or a Musigny Blanc." "Stories about Orson's rehearsals quickly became London legends: wielding an enormous long stick from his seat in the front rows to direct and guide his actors where he wanted them to move disappearing for days before opening night forgetting his own lines changing his own entrances from stage left, then stage right, from the back curtains, down stairways, without telling his cast in advance where he would appear, so as to keep them alert having an enormous picnic hamper prepared at. Of Welles's preparations for the play, his biographer Frank Brady writes: The presentation was visually flawless.the St James's stage seemed as big as a field." Ĭomposer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, had already composed the score for Welles's Othello film, and the director recalled Lavagnino also "wrote an entirely different score for Othello when I did it in the theatre." "Welles the producer gave us a new vista (based on five permanent golden pillars) for every scene he used a russet traverse-curtain to wipe away the setting in the same manner that the film would use a dissolve he sprinkled the action with some striking background music and realistic recording - in fact, he sacrificed much to give us a credible reading of a play which bristles with illogicalities. Of the play's design, theatre critic Kenneth Tynan offered the following description: John Gielgud famously asked Welles "You're going to do Othello? On the stage? In London? " Olivier's offer was not met with universal approval. He was thus delighted to receive an offer from Laurence Olivier, then operating the St James's Theatre, to come and perform Othello on the London stage.
In 1951, Welles had completed principal photography, but was still trying to raise money to finish editing the film. Filming was sporadic, and he frequently stopped the production to take on other acting jobs (including The Third Man) to raise more funds. In 1948, Orson Welles began work on a self-financed film of Othello, which was not completed until 1952.
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