OTHELLO

Royal Shakespeare Company.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon.

Review by Russell Blackaller.

A TOWERING cathedral like structure honours Shakespeare’s original settings for Othello, in Venice and Cyprus, but the era here is the present day.

Contemporary wars are echoed through modern costume, props and even torture. The characters talk and move as if it was 2015, helping us to connect with the play and increase our much needed belief.

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd plays Cassio as a dude and Joanna Vanderham’s Desdemona interacts with him in an entirely playful and believable way.

Fotini Dimou’s costume design is also powerful in supporting our contemporary connection, by accurately re-creating military uniforms.

The non-military costumes are playful and add the relief of colour, including several dresses worn by Desdemona, which are all stunning.

Othello is a tricky play to stage. You have to get the psychology right - to believe in Iago’s motivation to make his military general (Othello) jealous - jealous that his young wife (Desdemona) is having an affair with a man her own age (Cassio).

The consequence of Iago’s actions will clearly result in bloodshed and chaos, so why?

Iqbal Khan’s production for the RSC makes the bold move of casting Iago as black, choosing the experienced Lucian Msmati to play this mammoth role.

This has the effect of sharing the limelight with Othello (played by Hugh Quarshie with great subtlety), who is usually the only ‘black’ character to be seen.

Msmati’s Iago is bitter, twisted and slightly mad from the outset, perhaps racist against the white characters, especially those who have won promotion or love from Othello.

Thankfully, the individual character journeys make sense, or if they don’t completely, we are intrigued. Having said that, theatrical license with this far-fetched plot will always be required. It is just a question of getting into the zone and this production will help you get there.

8 out of 10

  • Othello runs in Stratford until August 28 2015.
  • Box Office 0844 800 1110