Let her witness it and then put out the light

'Let her witness it' and then, 'Put out the light'

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At the end of the speech from Othello we use in the film, Desdemona’s entrance on stage is announced, and her husband entreats his audience to “let her witness it”. This line gives us our title. “Witness” here carries the sense of attesting to – Othello is suggesting, in other words, that Desdemona tell the story of their relationship, and corroborate his own account. Desdemona’s “witnessing” is active, not passive, and so is Mary’s. She is in control of the stories she tells, but paradoxically the stories themselves tell of characters who, one way or another, by their authors, audiences, and interpreters, and by the societies in which we find them, are denied such agency. So Mary witnesses them, bringing them forward to make us see them and show us she understands them.

We wanted Mary to retain that control until the last, which is why her final words are a command: “Put out the light, and then, put out the light.” Again they are taken from Othello, this time from the climax of the tragedy, after Othello has killed Desdemona, and they carry the weight of their literary origins. But reclaimed for Mary at the end of this piece, they also allow this great actor to call time. It’s as if she’s saying: I have done; enough’s enough; the show’s over. The rest is up to the audience – to you, and to us.