Review of 'Othello'
SPOILER ALERT!
Staring Steven Miller (Iago), Mark Ebulue (Othello) Leila
Crerar (Emilia), Kirsty Oswald (Desdemona), Frantic Assembly's inspired production runs until 7th February 2015 at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London with a running time of 1hr 40mins (no interval).
Last week, I went to see ‘Othello’ at London’s Hammersmith
Lyric theatre. The incredible contemporary production was performed by Frantic
Assembly and was set in a pub in West Yorkshire during the 1980s. Overall, it
was absolutely stunning – a definite must see!
As we entered the club, sorry – theatre, pulsating music hit
us immediately as we took our seats and eagerly awaited the start of the show.
Set in a 1980s run-down West Yorkshire pub, the set consisted of a blandly beige
and burgundy local with a small back alley and ladies toilets as set changes.
Nether the less, the staging was very original and clever as the pub’s walls
could move with shocking flexibility – a particularly helpful bit of engineering
when Cassio was forced to become drunk – as we saw him fall into the moving
walls, the disorientation meant that we felt equally intoxicated. The play
centred round a pool table – an interesting choice as this play looks at race,
jealousy and love – here set around a game where the white pushes other balls
round to play but potting the black finishes it – I can’t help but see the
production’s analogy here between Othello and Iago. The table was masterfully used
for spot-lighting murder plots, death and a wedding bed – not to mention
focusing the setting of the production.
The play combined a clever mix of Shakespeare’s original
text with contemporary dance. This meant the cast actually shed some light onto
Iago’s malicious motives before the play even begun as we watched Othello take
his long black pool cue and ‘use it’ to show the girls how to play – a clever
‘pre watershed’ euphemism for Othello’s alleged affair with Emelia – as well as
watching him see Cassio being promoted above himself. It also created some astonishing
imagery for us as we watched Cassio completing fall after fall, back flips and
back drops when he was unwillingly intoxicated.
Othello, played by Mark Ebulue, was very good. He balanced
Othello’s aggressive traits well with a softer, vulnerable side to him. He
packed in plenty of raw power. Particularly when confronting poor Desdemona and
when asserting himself in his army or what here was a gang fight between the ‘Cypriots’
and rival gang, the ‘Turks’ (again, a show of wonderful modernisation as the producers
brought this centuries-old play up to date). Ebulue also conveyed a believable gullible
trait in Othello which served him well when believing Iago. Yet, as I will
mention in a moment, this Othello compared to the production’s Iago almost
became comedic when calling Iago ‘honest’ as this was so ironically far from
the truth. Overall a solid, believable performance that was both entertaining
and shocking to watch.
Iago, on the other hand was almost impossible to watch! Steven
Miller portrayed this hateful villain with such painful sincerity that on many
occasions we felt almost dirty as he colluded with us his diabolical plans.
This was acting at its best. Despite Iago having such an evil reputation as a
role, Miller promotes a sympathetic tone to the villain’s ploys. It was a
perfect mixture of sly anger, bitterness and revenge with the timid, loyal,
‘honest Iago’ that poor Othello is blinded by. An overall brilliant piece of
casting and an indulgent joy to watch.
Emilia, Leila Crerar, despite starting the play with an
almost bland and watery portrayal, the development of her character to reach
her climax was unforgettable. She grew throughout the performance until she
claimed her role and took command of the stage. She was incredible. Delivering
an ultimately heart wrenching performance as she unravelled the acts of her
(fairly abusive) husband we saw her empowered by truth and righteousness. This
meant the play truly climaxed at a heart-stopping, exhilarating end.
Overall: 4.5 Stars.
A wonderful production that amazed, angered, entertained and
ultimately intoxicated us. Unfortunately, the necessary deviation from the
original script must bring it down somewhat as I feel Shakespeare’s texts
should not be altered as much as it was here. However, the inspired use of
contemporary chorography (from Scott Graham, Steven Hoggett and Eddie Kay) and
dramatic performances redeems this production to just off perfection.
Picture: www.franticassembly.co.uk
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