Karim-Cooper, Farah. “Emotions, Gesture, and Race in the Early Modern Playhouse.” In Playing and Playgoing in Early Modern England: Actor, Audience, and Performance, edited by Simon Smith and Emma Whipday, 57-76. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
Examines the kinetic exchanges between actors and audiences in Shakespeare’s work, with specific reference to early modern performances of Othello. The essay demonstrates how bodily movements, hand gestures, and facial expressions constitute significant loci for theorizing the relationship between audience and actors. It argues for an understanding of such phenomena through the lens of critical race theory. The work engages conversations in the study of Shakespeare, Blackness, and performance studies.
