Death in Venice: Willem Dafoe thrills theatre biennale with adventurous shows about ghosts and rebirth

From a Noh Othello that puts Desdemona centre stage to a requiem for a family killed in the Rwandan genocide, the theatre at this year’s festival gives voice to the marginalised When Willem Dafoe took over at the creative helm of the Venice theatre biennale last year, he shaped the programme around his own passions. Dafoe selected experimental theatre companies that had influenced him as a young actor and took to the stage for an arcane and rather mannered two-hander by Richard Foreman which ...

By Arifa Akbar