‘Brilliantly put together and received a deserved standing ovation.’
This famous Shakespearean story, re-imagined to take place in the early 80s, was brilliantly put together and received a deserved standing ovation.
Othello is a classic play, directed here at the Northern Stage by Anthony Almeida, but not one that I was very familiar with, so I was intrigued to learn if I would be able to fully understand a story in Shakespearean dialect.
The tale is themed around jealousy and manipulation, and follows a black army general named Othello, his wife Desdemona who is widely considered to have chosen an unworthy husband, and the lower-ranking Iago, who can easily be described as a devious two-faced liar. There is constant misinformation stirred by Iago, as the rest of the characters are gradually torn down by his hand.
I found, whilst it was set in the 80s, it didn’t feel so at all because the dialect was of course still Shakespearean. Not knowing the story, it took me a little while to tune in and I spent the first ten minutes trying to translate the lines. However, it is credit to both Shakespeare’s timeless writing and the production’s storytelling that, as the story unfolded, I became more and more accustomed to it. Soon I was fully invested in the play.
The topical conflict was the Falkland’s war. I can imagine this would resonate with an older generation, but not so much for people of my age. To me, the 80s setting seemed irrelevant compared to the plot itself. The story would carry wherever or whenever it was set, and it was still the Shakespearean script, so it could not convincingly be set anywhere other than in those times anyway.
It was interesting that, whilst a huge theme was Othello being black and therefore considered less worthy for his wife, Iago was also cast as non-white. It demonstrated the ability to be oppressed but also be on the side of your oppressor, as he encourages Desdemona’s father to resent Othello, and brings about his downfall. Iago puts on a good show pretending to be Othello’s good friend, and it’s possible he gets away with his malice because Othello feels he is a brother in that way.
The acting was fantastic. Every actor held their own, but Maanuv Thiara’s portrayal of Iago was quite enthralling. Dwane Walcott had a great presence, commanding the space as the general Othello, and Phoebe Smyth’s Desdemona was wonderfully innocent and fair, with great emotion. Emilia was played by Rebecca Banatvala, who was also brilliant.
The set and lighting were both impressively grand and simple yet brutal. It allowed for the focus to stay on the actors, who told the story with relatively little distraction.
There was very clever use of a live camera, showing the actors’ faces close up on the backdrop in real time. It allowed the audience to really experience the drama and emotion – particularly with Desdemona. There was also some pre-shot footage, and one scene which stood out was the drunken Cassio’s loss of control: the audience were shown it on the backdrop from above with Cassio throwing more men to the ground, and it magnified the significance of his actions.
Overall, this was a very professional and well-crafted production. I would certainly recommend it for any Shakespeare fans, especially those who are willing to focus on the dialect.
Othello’s tour of Newcastle, Glasgow, and Manchester continues until the 2th September – Tickets here