Joshua Beaudry (left), as the jailer, and Sky Brandon, as Iago, perform a scene from Iago Speaks during a student matinee at the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts in North Battleford on Wednesday, May 13, 2025. The Saskatchewan production is touring high schools ahead of its appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Kenneth Cheung

IAGO SPEAKS

Sask. theatre troupe reimagines Shakespeare for student ahead of international debut

May 14, 2025 | 2:09 PM

What if lago never stopped talking? A Saskatchewan playwright imagined just that and now students are discovering Shakespeare in a whole new way.

Rumpus Studio Theatre kicked off its school tour Tuesday in North Battleford, performing Iago Speaks for local high school students ahead of its international debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland this August — part of a broader effort to make Shakespeare more accessible to youth.

The Saskatoon-based theatre group is behind the comedic and interactive play written by Daniel Macdonald, an acclaimed playwright. The production, which reimagines the fate of Shakespeare’s infamous villain, Iago, is designed to challenge traditional classroom interpretations of the Bard and help students connect with the material in a more engaging, playful way.

“We wanted to build the production first and then tour it around to test it out,” Macdonald said. “I’ve had a lot of interest from teachers in the past who saw it before, to bring it to schools and have students see it.”

Iago Speaks was written by award-winning playwright Daniel Macdonald, whose work has been recognized by the Carol Bolt Award and the Saskatchewan Book Awards. He has twice received the City of Regina Writing Award, along with the Enbridge Playwrights Award and the Saskatchewan Arts Award. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW staff)

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The play picks up after Shakespeare’s Othello, imagining what happens to Iago after he’s arrested. A jailer, baffled by Iago’s silence, gradually breaks theatrical convention and questions the structure of plays themselves. Performed with modern language and a comedic tone, it uses Shakespeare as a springboard to explore themes of storytelling and performance.

Staged at the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts, the play drew students from North Battleford Comprehensive High School who laughed along as the actors stepped out of the story to speak to the crowd.

Joshua Beaudry, who plays the jailer, said the format is especially effective for teens who might not enjoy traditional Shakespeare lessons.

“This show has something for all of those people,” said Beaudry. “If you hate Shakespeare, we certainly like to have fun at Shakespeare’s expense and then if you love Shakespeare, you’ll also enjoy it all the more.”

“Normally in a play, you’re just acting with the people on stage, but in this show, the audience is almost a character too,” he added.

Sky Brandon (left), as the Iago, and Joshua Beaudry, as the jailer, perform a scene from Iago Speaks during a student matinee at the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts in North Battleford on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW staff)

Sky Brandon, who plays Iago, said many students are put off by Shakespeare because it feels distant or inaccessible.

“We often think Shakespeare is hard to access or it’s elevated,” he said. “Even if there’s certain words, I feel like it’s supposed to be done, not read, so if you get a chance to see Shakespeare or Shakespeare-related work, then I think there might be an appreciation that maybe people didn’t realize they had.”

Brandon noted that Iago Speaks works even if students haven’t read Othello.

“Anything that needs to be known is worked into the play itself,” he said. “It’s a bit of a love letter to audiences, theater doesn’t happen unless there’s an audience who comes to see it happening.”

Joshua Beaudry (left), as the jailer, and Sky Brandon, as Iago, perform a scene from Iago Speaks during a student matinee at the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts in North Battleford on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW staff)

Macdonald said what makes the play unique is how it challenges theatrical expectations.

“It’s not a typical play at all. It initially seems like that, but then we start to involve the audience, and there’s a strange interaction between the jailer and the audience that breaks apart the idea of a regular play and starts to play around with what a play really is and how theater works.”

The show first premiered in 2022 and was later staged in Winnipeg. Macdonald developed the script over nearly a decade, revisiting and refining it through workshops and grants from SK Arts and the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre. This year’s festival runs from Aug. 1 to 25.

“I wrote a draft, and then forgot about it… I’m always busy with other projects and other plays,” he said. “And slowly it gained momentum… and I started to rewrite it and become more interested in it.”

According to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, the Fringe is one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world, featuring more than 3,700 shows from over 60 countries in 2024. While Canada is regularly represented, only a few productions are selected each year.

“It’s pretty cool to have a show from Saskatchewan going,” Macdonald said.

Beaudry, who’s been acting in the province for 25 years, said this will be his first time performing internationally.

“I’m really honored to be able to go and do this and I think it will surprise people,” he said.

Brandon added that bringing a tested, well-developed play makes the experience even more meaningful.

“Because it’s a play that I’m proud of, and we know quite well at this point,” he said, “I think that leaves any possible nerves I might have about taking it to the festival.”

The cast and crew — 10 in total — from Rumpus Studio Theatre will head to Edinburgh in August. In the meantime, the tour continues across Saskatchewan, with Regina scheduled as the next stop.

“if you can come to Edinburgh this summer, come and see our play,” Macdonald said.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com