 | Othello |  |
"Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her!
Come, go with me apart; I will withdraw.
To furnish me with some swift means of death
For the fair devil. Now art thou my lieutenant. Othello
I am your own for ever. Iago " Act III, scene iii
Written: 1604
Royal Shakespeare Company ; January 6, 2000 London, U.K.
Starring :
Reviewed on : 2000-09-30 14:15:55 ; Reviewed by : Antonia Mandry
| This RSC production of Othello at the Barbican (Jan. 6, 2000) was brilliant. Absolutely mesmerizing. Some may say that it's because it's one of Shakespeare's best plays, but in the end it was the performances that raised it from being a play I never liked to a performance that is the best I've ever seen of any Shakespeare play. Cassio was the character that benefited most from this production ... he was actually a bit charming and likable as opposed to the wet blanket he is in the text (to mine eyes, at least). Ray Fearon's (1967 -) Othello was not only a good scenery chewer but he also had a great body, which I think the director took advantage of. Desdemona was portrayed as stronger than she comes across in the text -- actually fighting for her life, albeit only momentarily. But it was Iago who was the centerpiece of the story. The actor Richard McCabe was roundish, plump and in real life would be immediately classified as harmless. Yet, as Iago, he imbued each scene with such menace, that the audience either laughed nervously or booed (as one child consistantly did whenever he came on stage -- she also shrieked when Othello slapped Desdemona; a true sign of the power of the play). There were also some implied movements/attitudes on the part of Iago (and, of course, the director) of faintly homoerotic sentinment toward Othello and, for a brief moment, of regret for his machinations. I got the feeling that he actually was surprised that his plan was working and faintly regretted it. But, caught on the course that he had set for himself, he merely continued on with his manipulations. The setting seemed to imply a World War I (or just prior) world which was great, because I love that era (architecturally and fashion-wise). The soldiers wore handsome dark blue uniforms with red jackets and red stripes down the pant legs. Very dashing.
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Sir John Gilbert, R.A.,
Othello and Iago
Reviews
|  | Schauspiel Frankfurt
April 17, 2009 |  | Northern Broadsides
March 11, 2009 |  | Royal Shakespeare Company at the Warwick Arts Centre
February 6, 2009 |  | Théâtre de l'Odéon
November 14, 2008 |  | Metropolitan Opera
February 22, 2008 |  | Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
February 13, 2008 |  | Stratford Festival of Canada
August 4, 2007 |  | Boston Theatre Works in BCA Plaza Theatre
March 2006 |  | Ankara Devlet Opera ve Balesi
November 16, 2005 |  | Oyun Atölyesi
March 14, 2005 |  | Lions Gate Films
2004 |  | Lyric Opera of Chicago
2002 |  | Masterpiece Theatre
2002 |  | Tim Blake Nelson
2001 |  | Royal Shakespeare Company
January 6, 2000 |
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