Othello

Synopsis

Othello, a Moor, falls in love with Desdemona but is broken by jealousy falsely encouraged. Shakespeare's most human play sets delicacy and power, trust and jealousy, love and hate, good and evil in stark and tragic opposition. Powerless in the face of their own self destructive instincts, the characters are caught on a downward spiral towards inevitable tragedy.

Our Review:

21 September 2009

When Lenny Henry made his professional theatrical debut as Othello, there were a few eyebrows raised. It’s one thing tackling Shakespeare for the first time, it’s another taking on one of the most demanding roles in the Shakespearean canon - but he generated some decent reviews.

It was almost inevitable that Barrie Rutter would bring his Northern Broadsides production of the tragedy down to London, providing a rare chance for southern audiences to appreciate Rutter’s take on Shakespeare with his strong emphasis on making the plays accessible. It’s a briskly-delivered production - Rodrigo’s assault on Cassio appears to take place in Desdemona’s bedroom such is the haste to get on with the action - while Ruari Murchision’s gloomy, dark-wooded set casts a bit of a pall over proceedings.

In some ways Othello is a strange choice for a comedian to make - it’s one of Shakespeare’s...

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Latest User Review

Escalus56 - 29 November 2009:

A very satisfying evening. Sure, greater, more experienced actors might have given a more profound performance, but Mr Henry has clearly worked very hard and put his heart and soul into the project. His problem, from my standpoint, is that he has a permanent twinkle in his eye and his features have been so arranged by nature that when you look at his face you expect a great guffaw to break out at any moment - possibly even when his character is plumbing the depths of despair. I hadn't taken in the fact that this is a Northern theatrical company, but it rapidly became apparent, everyone speaking with an accent that made them sound like refugees from Coronation Street. "Luv" instead of love, "enuff" rather than enough, and so on. I half expected an "Eh up, chuck," from Desdemona. Nevertheless, an intriguing and entertaining evening. It perhaps seems odd to single out an element that had nothing at all to do with Shakespeare, but, as others have mentioned, the musical drinking scene was superb....

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