Princesse Schouwburg te Den Haag tijdens de opvoering van Othello 1874 - 1927

Johan Antonie de Jonge captured a performance of Othello at the Princesse Schouwburg in The Hague with watercolor on paper. The theater was a microcosm of Dutch colonial society, where Shakespeare’s play about race, jealousy, and betrayal resonated deeply. Othello, the Moorish general, stood as a figure of both admiration and suspicion. In the play, Desdemona’s choice to love Othello challenges the racial boundaries of Venetian society, a theme with echoes in the Dutch colonial context. De Jonge’s watercolor captures a moment where high culture meets the complex realities of race and class. The elite audience is there to witness a tragedy that reflects their own society’s prejudices and anxieties. The artist invites us to consider the theater as a space where these issues were not only performed but also subtly negotiated.