Costumes are a major part of a production. They are used to determine the roles of characters, the time period and the overall theme of the production. The costumes in “Otello” were amazing and incredible. Each character had a different costume depending on the scene or the social status of the character.

The beginning of the Opera started off very dramatic and during this scene the actors were wearing dark costumes in various shades of black and navy blue. This is an important decision because the intensity of the scene would not be portrayed if the actors had been wearing bright colors. To match the mood, the actors were dressed in dark colors

Another interesting choice of costume is Desdemona’s white gown in the beginning of the opera. She is easily identifiable although she is in a large group of people. The costume here plays two roles in the opera. It first signifies her purity and innocence. In the opera Desdemona represents all that is pure and good and her dress at the beginning truly captures the essence of her character. The second role it plays is to set Desdemona apart from the other characters on the stage. In contrast to Desdemona’s costume Iago’s costume was all black. Although other actors wore shades of black none wore all black like Iago. This represent his evil and sinister character. In the opera he is the root cause of the problem between Othello and Desdemona; this role is further emphasized by the fact that he wears a black costume.