OTHELLO
Review by James
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Theatre Royal Haymarket’s storied history of staging Shakespeare’s greatest works has a worthy new addition.
Moorish military commander Othello has it all – a happy marriage, military success and power. That might not be your sort of thing, but his deceitful flag-carrier Iago sure can’t stomach it and he malevolently sets about destroying him. While the age-old debate over Iago’s motivations will remain unsettled following this latest contribution to Shakespearean canon, Director Tom Morris nonetheless provides an important contemporary telling through the lens of racism, coercive control, and misinformation. It’s almost as if the most vitriolic denizens of X have decamped to the West End.
David Harewood’s Othello – reprised 30-years on from his groundbreaking portrayal – powerfully commands the stage from the peak of his power through to his agonising descent into jealousy, paranoia and violent abuse. Caitlin FitzGerald’s storming portrayal of the ill-fated Desdemona affords the character a welcome depth of complexity, while Toby Jones enhances his status as a generational actor with an exceptionally lamentable Iago – the prototypal gaslighter.
The principal cast skilfully meet the lofty expectations, but it is Vinette Robinson (Emilia) who produces the play’s most memorable moment. The haunting scene between Desdemona and her maid Emilia, in which the two characters confront their acute vulnerability at the hands of power-hungry men, won’t soon be forgotten. Their reconciling with the collapse of Desdemona’s marriage and her impending fate is an unyielding gut punch.
The production’s less-is-more approach allows the performances to take the audience by the jugular. PJ Harvey’s suffocating score, Richard Howell’s ominous lighting, and the minimalist industrial staging of Shakespeare-veteran Ti Green are a triumph.
Purists might turn their noses up at some of the impromptu audience reactions to Othello’s dramatic moments, but this stands as testament to the Great Bard’s power to enthral four centuries on.
Expect Othello to receive a raft of nominations come awards season.