Fortunes of the Moor

Shakespeare's Othello concludes with Desdemona's kin planning to "...seize upon the fortunes of the Moor...." Fortunes of the Moor supposes Desdemona, disowned by her father, takes refuge at a convent and gives birth to a son. After the Venetian victory in Cyprus under Othello's command, Desdemona leaves their infant son at the Venetian convent and joins Othello in Cyprus.

The play is set in Othello's home village where an African griot tells the story. Othello's family journeys to Venice to find Othello's son and raise him as their own while Desdemona's kin connive to claim Othello's fortune by deceit, kidnapping and murder.

Barbara and Carlton Molette, Dramatists Guild members since 1971, began playwrighting collaborations with ROSALEE PRITCHETT, produced in New York by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1971, by the Free Southern Theatre in New Orleans and on tour, by several university theatres, and published by Dramatists Play Service and Black Writers of America. In 2013, they received the National Black Theatre Festival's Living Legend Award and the Ethel Woolson Award for LEGACY. In 2012, they received the Black Theatre Network's Lifetime Membership Award. PRUDENCE received the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism's Playwright's Award in 2005. They have also co-authored scholarly articles and two books – Black Theatre: Premise and Presentation, and Afrocentric Theatre.

Productions of full length plays include DR. B. S. BLACK, a musical in collaboration with Charles Mann produced by Theatre of the Stars and Just Us Theatre at Atlanta's Peachtree Playhouse in 1976 with Samuel L. Jackson in the title role with additional productions in Washington, D. C., Houston, and Memphis. NOAH'S ARK (published in Center Stage) and BOOJI premiered by Atlanta's Morehouse- Spelman Players. FORTUNES OF THE MOOR premiered at New York's Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop in 1995 with additional productions including Ghana's National Theatre Company; Chicago's ETA Creative Arts; and Brown, Ohio State, Western Michigan, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut universities. Miami's M Ensemble premiered OUR SHORT STAY in 2005. PRUDENCE premiered at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre in 2006. PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER premiered at Houston's De Luxe Theater in 2016 after readings at the National Black Theatre Festival, New York's New Federal Theatre, Bowie State University at the Kennedy Center and New Life Productions in Columbia, SC.

Premieres of ten minute plays include OUT OF TIME at New York's Turtle Productions in 2011; MOVE THE CAR in 2012 at Warehouse Performing Arts Center, NC; TEE SHIRT HISTORY at Atlanta's Essential Theatre in 2012; A FOND FAREWELL at Greenbrier Valley Theatre in WVA in 2014; LAST SUPPER in 2013 and KIN SHIP in 2014 at Houston's Fade to Black. Other short plays include WIDGETS, SILVER TONGUE, DO YOU CARE ENOUGH? and THE GREAT XMAS RACE.

Barbara J. Molette (B.A., Florida A. & M. U., M.F.A., Florida State U., Ph.D., U. Of Missouri), Professor Emerita, Eastern Connecticut State U.; taught at Spelman College, Texas Southern U. and Baltimore City Community College where she was Director of Writing Across the Curriculum. Administrative Fellow, Mid-Missouri Associated Colleges and Universities; Director of Arts-in-Education Programs, Mayor's Advisory Committee on Art and Culture in Baltimore and English Department Chair, Eastern Connecticut State.

Carlton W. Molette (B.A. Morehouse College, M.A., U. of Iowa, Ph.D., Florida State U.) Professor Emeritus of Dramatic Arts and African American Studies, U. of Connecticut; taught at Spelman College, Florida A. & M., Howard, Atlanta, and Texas Southern Universities; Division of Fine Arts Chair, Spelman; School of Communications Dean, Texas Southern; Dean of Arts and Sciences, Lincoln (MO) and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Coppin State.