Othello - National Theatre

Will just crosssover with Lyric Hammersmiths Othello - lyric.co.uk/our-home/lyric-life/frantic-assemblys-othello-returns-to-the-lyric-and-new-co-production-of-metamorphosis-to-open-in-2023

Hmmm can't say I'm too excited by this. Why does British theatre think Othello to be one of the only plays about race? There are so many plays through different periods they could have explored. Personally feel it would have been more interesting for them to do The Tempest through a colonial lens as that has a lot of academic merit behind it.

Iago generally does get the starrier casting and more chances to shine though: he may have expressed it better of course, but a version which focuses more on Othello as the focus could be a good thing

Giles Teria is an excellent actor as well

Well, I'll be booking.
Saw Rosy McEwen in a couple of things when she was studying at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and was very impressed and I'm not surprised that she's been cast in such a high profile production.
Also, Paul Hilton went on my automatic-booking list after The Inheritance.

What are we to make of this announcement on the NT website? "Landmark production"? "Subvert the traditional stagings"? "Reframe the play"? "Unseen forces"??!

"This November, OTHELLO returns to the National Theatre. Deputy Artistic Director, Clint Dyer, directs an extraordinary new vision for one of Shakespeare's most enduring tragedies. This landmark production marks the first time the play has been staged by a Black director at a major British venue..."

A word from Clint Dyer, Deputy Artistic Director: "This contemporary production will subvert the traditional stagings that we know so well and reframe the play to focus on Othello and Desdemona's desire for a life together and the unseen forces that conspire against them..."

Apparently we do. The Lester/Kinnear/Hytner job was the best Othello I’ve ever seen ( yes I did see the ones you are about to mention, Jan et al) so not sure I can face another one unless you guys all tell me I must.
As for the name of the play 1. I’m convinced Sh didn't care despite the many Phds on the subject of his titles but 2. If it matters, then yes, Othello is the subject of the play, as are King Lear, Hamlet and Antony and Cleopatra in those plays. The merchant in The Merchant of Venice could well be Shylock or Antonio as other academic tomes have no doubt debated. 
This prod is in the Lyttleton so pro arch stuff. More like a movie? Easier to film for cinema release? Dunno. 

It took me a second to realise you weren't talking about some new NT show that I had totally missed but had typo'd your subject!

Monday next week, for me.

I went to see it last night. First thing, I am Italian so I always struggle with the language in Shakespeare and that might detract from my experience. I had only seen Othello once at the Globe with Mark Rylance as Iago. The play was about three hours long with an interval. It was a bit a mixed bag for me: in terms of positives, Paul Hilton, as expected, is great as Iago (pure unrepented evil. Just hearing his voice brought me back to Walter's monologue in The inheritance). When he is in the scene, the atmosphere is electric. The relationship between Iago and his wife Emilia is interesting and given an undertone that might in part explain why Emilia gets involved in the plot of the handkerchief (fear and desire to please him). The three hours passed quickly so the pacing is good. The rather stark staging and the monochrome costumes might help to focus on the text, although there is little suggestion we are in either Venice or Cyprus (it looks more like an asylum in Vladivostok). Giles Tereira, whom I really liked in previous plays, grows in the second part but I must say I never believed he was a valiant general and seemed to lack that kind of authority that I would associate to the position. And I did not remember that jealousy would turn into epilepsy. Rose McEwen is a modern Desdemona quite good. But looking at what the director said about his intention to refocus the play on Othello and articulate the black experience because previous directors were not comfortable with that, in his opinion, I don't think it worked out. As written by Shakespeare, Iago remains central to the story and the most interesting character and apart from the overt racism in the Venetian characters, I did not get much of Othello's point of view.

These reports do seem to confirm my fears that too many directors seem to want to direct the play they want it to be rather that directing the text as written.

Othello may be the title character but Iago is always going to be the most interesting figure on stage.

The only way to really alter that balance is to write a new script. And then you can't use Shakespeare as the draw.

I know the rise of the dramaturg has given some directors permission for the idea that they can completely reshape a text. And whilst that is technically true, it is very rare that a director is a better writer than Shakespeare.

Yes, it has been happening for centuries. Through history we have had Lear rewritten to have a happy ending, Merchant ending after Act 4 to put all the focus on Shylock and many, many others.

But none of these adaptations have persisted in the repertoire. The originals have.

If a director doesn't have faith in the text, they should not direct it.

But no one performs the Barton or Hall versions. So they were very much one offs.

The essence is that Othello isn't a play you can perform to highlight the black experience because the text just doesn't allow for it.

It isn't the play the director thinks it is.