Othello - Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Jan 30, 2024 18:24:04 GMT
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Dave B, cavocado, and 1 more like this
Post by Steve on Jan 30, 2024 18:24:04 GMT
Just saw the matinee, and LOVED it.
You might worry that having a "subconscious Othello," acting alongside Othello, might be too gimmicky, but I found Subconscious Othello, played by the amazing Ira Mandela Siobhan, to be the most powerful element of the production, and the reason to book a ticket for this, in an endless stream of Othello productions.
Some spoilers follow. . .
This is less like the classic and brilliant traditional Othello the Donmar did (with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kelly Reilly as two period angels corrupted by a demonic smiling Ewan McGregor), and more like the blokey, modern, army Othello that the National did (with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear gabbing away in army uniforms like blokes in a London pub, and Olivia Vinall in trousers).
Here, it's Poppy Gilbert (Desdemona) in trousers and the blokey Ken Nwosu (Othello) and Ralph Davis (Iago) in uniforms, though the police uniforms, and the modern milieu of a police task force, are probably even more familiar to audiences than the army milieu was, as about 50 percent of TV dramas feature such police uniforms and boards full of targets and suspects.
Ostensibly, the war depicted is a war on drug dealers, and the internecine strife is about endemic racism within the force and society, even against a supercop like Othello, with Iago being but the worst of them, but ultimately it's Othello's war against himself that makes this production special.
I mean, all the actors are good, with Oli Higginson particularly good as a dissolute Cassio, equipped with guitar, song and a party spirit he tries to, but just can't, repress, but it is Ira Mandela Siobhan, as Othello's subconscious that truly commands the eye and heart, at all times.
Sometimes, as he did as the Elephant's Ghost in "Mlima's Tale," at the Kiln Theatre, he dances his emotions in lithe movements embodying a man used to taking orders, but sometimes he's simply reaching out plaintively for the deepest objects of Othello's desire, and sometimes he's rictus frozen in trauma, and sometimes he's physically interacting with his corporeal self (Nwosu), as a kind of voice in his ear, and sometimes. . . well, he interacts and reflects and opposes and acquiesces and is the emotive soul of the piece, in touch with everything that's said, and everything that isn't.
Even if you are Othello-ed out, Ira Mandela Siobhan, and his dance with Nwosu, gives you a reason to Othello one more time.
4 stars from me.
PS: The runtime was 3 hours, including an interval, running from 2pm - 5pm this afternoon.
You might worry that having a "subconscious Othello," acting alongside Othello, might be too gimmicky, but I found Subconscious Othello, played by the amazing Ira Mandela Siobhan, to be the most powerful element of the production, and the reason to book a ticket for this, in an endless stream of Othello productions.
Some spoilers follow. . .
This is less like the classic and brilliant traditional Othello the Donmar did (with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kelly Reilly as two period angels corrupted by a demonic smiling Ewan McGregor), and more like the blokey, modern, army Othello that the National did (with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear gabbing away in army uniforms like blokes in a London pub, and Olivia Vinall in trousers).
Here, it's Poppy Gilbert (Desdemona) in trousers and the blokey Ken Nwosu (Othello) and Ralph Davis (Iago) in uniforms, though the police uniforms, and the modern milieu of a police task force, are probably even more familiar to audiences than the army milieu was, as about 50 percent of TV dramas feature such police uniforms and boards full of targets and suspects.
Ostensibly, the war depicted is a war on drug dealers, and the internecine strife is about endemic racism within the force and society, even against a supercop like Othello, with Iago being but the worst of them, but ultimately it's Othello's war against himself that makes this production special.
I mean, all the actors are good, with Oli Higginson particularly good as a dissolute Cassio, equipped with guitar, song and a party spirit he tries to, but just can't, repress, but it is Ira Mandela Siobhan, as Othello's subconscious that truly commands the eye and heart, at all times.
Sometimes, as he did as the Elephant's Ghost in "Mlima's Tale," at the Kiln Theatre, he dances his emotions in lithe movements embodying a man used to taking orders, but sometimes he's simply reaching out plaintively for the deepest objects of Othello's desire, and sometimes he's rictus frozen in trauma, and sometimes he's physically interacting with his corporeal self (Nwosu), as a kind of voice in his ear, and sometimes. . . well, he interacts and reflects and opposes and acquiesces and is the emotive soul of the piece, in touch with everything that's said, and everything that isn't.
Even if you are Othello-ed out, Ira Mandela Siobhan, and his dance with Nwosu, gives you a reason to Othello one more time.
4 stars from me.
PS: The runtime was 3 hours, including an interval, running from 2pm - 5pm this afternoon.
