Royal Shakespeare Company: Othello - (2015) -
To start with I couldn't work out if I liked the fact that there didn't seem to be a specific time setting for this piece, Although by the end I did think that I liked the treatment in general. I might have been happier without the video conference call, and the karaoke was a tad much too.
I also felt that the accompanying music might have been too loud and harsh if I'd been in the actual theatre as well.
I did appreciate the transitions from one scene to the next, which were done well to keep the pace up without overlong set changes and the smooth movement of the cleverly engineered set, with an actual water feature was good too.
My first thoughts as I watched the cast were that Brian Protheroe was very good in his role of Brabantio. He seemed at ease with the Shakespearean dialogue without stretching too hard to remember his lines or projecting too loudly.
As it progressed I grew to appreciate Hugh Quarshie in his titular part of Othello as well, it was clear to see how his countenance changed throughout as a result of Iago's malicious and manipulative whispering in his ear.
Iago (Lucian Msamati) himself was a bit of a fidget. At times it was like he had ants in his pants and wouldn't stand still. He seemed to be the only one of the cast that felt the need to express himself so physically, as well as vocally.
However, while I don't generally like it when the cast address the audience in their monologues and it didn't work for most of them, by the end I did feel that Iago had managed to include the viewers in a way that was apt.
And in fact the story probably should have been called Iago rather than Othello, because the focus really did seem to fall on him mostly and he was the one making the events all happen.
I couldn't help but feel that there were too many other people of colour in the production for Othello himself to stand out as THE "Moor" and I mostly felt that Iago was the worst culprit for this as someone that hated Othello, seemingly for his supposed racial difference. I'm all for diversity, but not at the cost of a point that the story was trying to make or when it blurs things too much. You couldn't have a man playing Elizabeth I, because the issue of her being a woman in power would be lost?
The whole cast actually delivered well, with no one person standing out as poor. Everyone projected their lines clearly and without shouting, which I have often found with these productions.
The female characters were all enjoyable in their roles, but Emilia (Ayesha Dharker) was actually superb. Her accent added to her performance and I wondered if her foreign heritage might also be why her husband, Iago, might have been so cruel to her too. His Afro accent did complicate his character further though.
I don't know why, but I had always thought that 'Othello' was a comedy, so the drama of this was quite a surprise, but it was a good story overall and I enjoyed as much as I could understand with the poetic script being a tad tough to follow at times. Perhaps I might enjoy it even more when I do get around to reading it and I can digest the prose at my own pace, pause and return to it if necessary.
A story of a General of colour fighting for his place in society, whilst his Ensign's evil lies spread mischief and tragedy for the superiors marriage.
720.25/1000.
