New York's Public Theater is kicking off its 2009-2010 season with something it does pretty well: Shakespeare. More specifically, Hollywood stars performing in Shakespeare.

Coming off of the excellent Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night, starring Anne Hathaway, the Public heads over to the darker side of the Bard's spectrum with a production of Othello, starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The play is a co-production with LAByrinth Theater Company. Hoffman, an artistic director at LAByrinth, will star alongside fellow artistic director, John Ortiz.

It should be fun to see Hoffman sinking his teeth into the role of Iago, a slimy sidekick considered by some to be the prototypical villain. And because of the connection to LAByrinth, the production is likely to be a labor of love for the actors.

Tickets for Othello go on sale beginning August 3rd. With just 23 performances planned for the run, seats should go pretty quickly.