‘Othello – A Bestiary (with Floral Additions)’ is a wordless reworking of William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ as an illustrated collection of common, rare and fabulous animals. In removing the text, Borbonesa presents a deconstructed version of ‘Othello’ in which the storyline is plotted by the guinea-hens, baboons, blind puppies, strawberries and figs that inhabit the speeches of Shakespeare’s human characters. These faunal and floral forms are arranged in their original sequence so the structure of the play is visually revealed.

‘Othello – A Bestiary (with Floral Additions)’ is illustrated by Ian Whitmore and issued as a concertina bookwork, with a foreword by Anna Fewster. Borbonesa is an art company based in Sussex and Hampshire producing occasional books and papers. Co-founder Ian Whitmore is an interdisciplinary artist with a passion for the Natural World.

Anna Fewster is a book arts academic and practitioner. She teaches at universities in Sussex and Kent, and under the imprint Lampyridae Press, produces limited edition letterpress printed matter. Robert Stillman composes music for simultaneous, multi-instrumental performance using piano and percussion modified for the feet.

New Theatre Royal, 20-24 Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth, PO1 2DD, Saturday 3 September 2011, 6-9pm