Daniel Craig and David Oyelowo to Star Off-Broadway in ‘Othello’

Daniel Craig will join David Oyelowo on the small stage next fall as one of theatre’s great villains.

Having said he’d “rather slash his wrists” than play Bond again, Daniel Craig is indeed going in the opposite direction for his next project, putting action movies aside to play Iago on the stage in Othello.

The production will be hosted by the New York Theatre Workshop, a small but renowned Off-Broadway theatre, which is now gearing up for the debut of a new musical co-penned by David Bowie.

The production will be directed by Sam Gold, who won a Tony for his work in Fun Home.

In 2007, Oyelowo (“Selma”) played the title role in an Off-Broadway production of “Prometheus Bound”.

“When Sam Gold came to us with the beginning sketches of this production, with these two sublime actors, it seemed the ideal next step for us to take together”, NYTW artistic director James Nicola told Deadline. Craig has also appeared on Broadway, most recently in a revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal with Rafe Spall and Rachel Weisz staged by the late Mike Nichols. “I’m eager to see what these original, creative artists come up with in response to Shakespeare’s enduring tragedy”.

Exact dates and additional cast have yet to be announced, but the New York Times reports a limited run, due to the actors’ restricted availability.

Craig made his Broadway debut in 2009 in the cop drama “A Steady Rain”.