 | 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
Chicago Shakespeare Theatre ; February 13, 2008 Chicago, IL
Director : Marti Maraden ; Starring :
Reviewed on : 2008-02-17 11:10:56 ; Reviewed by : Margarete Mandry
| Chicago Shakespeare Theatre does it again, providing audiences with a riveting Othello. Director Marti Maraden gives us a production that is at once regal while still retaining the gut-wrenching messy emotions that humans are prey to. She has chosen to set the play around the turn of the century, giving Othello and Iago a naval background, which reinforces the fact that Venice, in her prime, was a naval force to be reckoned with, in that all her trading and fighting was done at sea. The time period provides us with women’s sumptuous garments and men’s tidy uniforms. Although a visual feast for the eyes, the time chosen does not seem to lend itself to the text. Venice was no longer a seafaring power by 1900, and there were not any particular wars being fought that give a new meaning to the text. There was a great deal of fighting in Turkey and Cyprus, but it was a bit later, in the teens and twenties. Since there is so much discussion of the politics and military strategies Othello employs, it might have been better to choose a different period.
Othello himself is portrayed by Derrick Lee Weeden, who gives the audience an admirable man. Blessed with a beautiful basso voice, one can picture Desdemona falling in love with the sound of his voice, as he tells war stories over the dinner table. This is a beautiful man, whose gestures are refined and whose every word is crisp and clear; there are no garbled moments here, even when he is upset. He is the sort of Othello every woman would fall in love with. But perhaps he is too refined. Othello spends much of his time telling people how out of place he feels at court, that he has not the manners nor the political subterfuge for it. One can hardly believe that Weeden’s Othello would have difficulty in that arena. And yet, Othello is a simple man, a man who has risen through the ranks by ability, not political cunning. Perhaps his problem is that he doesn’t understand doublespeak.
Paul Niebanck’s Iago, on the other hand, understands manipulation all too well. He is most in his element when he is plotting and is bored by honesty and simple ability. Like a serial killer, his joy is apparent in the preparation for destruction. He sets up his dominoes and then knocks them down. One can actually feel the glee he feels when one of his nasty little traps is sprung. He is only truly happy when people are being ripped apart, especially if that happens due to one of his insinuations of infidelity. One wonders what Iago would do after this. Would he be content with having destroyed Othello and Desdemona, and Cassio? Or would he set his sights higher, and try for bigger game next time?
Allison Batty does a great job with Desdemona, traditionally a rather thankless role in that the action revolves around her but she has no impact on it. This Desdemona makes your heart ache when Othello turns on her, her confusion is so palpable. It is a beautifully modulated performance.
Sean Fortunato’s Cassio is likewise well portrayed. They are all pawns in Iago’s little game, and, like the hapless bug caught in the spider’s web, the more they struggle, the more they are truly caught. Poor Cassio struggles in vain to regain his position. But the more he importunes Desdemona to run interference with Othello, the more Othello is convinced they are having an affair. It’s a vicious circle, and these two are stuck in the middle.
The set was also very well employed. The actors use all of the stage, criss-crossing the thrust but also sometimes venturing way upstage. Sliding panels on the thrust also helped make seamless set changes, transforming that stage by the simple expedient of adding levels and steps. With the dark faux wood of the flooring and minimal set pieces, the costumes and the actors become the focal point; The white uniforms of the navy especially stood out against the dark floor. All in all, this was a very satisfying production!
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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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