Othello (RSC)

Othello, RSC at Barbican Theatre

Note: The following review dates from the production’s original 1999 run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford. It runsin London from 8 January to 8 April 2000.

For Michael Attenborough’s production of Othello, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre has been transformed, into an almost-modern accessible auditorium, by a huge oval stage, half of which is in front of the proscenium arch. In a minimalist set, the splendour of Venice is depicted by darkness and a wisp of mist from the lagoon; Cyprus, by the canvas pavilions of a military camp. The early twentieth-century costumes fail to distract from the intensity of the drama.

Some of the parts are played traditionally: Richard Cordery’s commanding Brabantio gives the play a kick start; Zoë Waites’s Desdemona moves from a confident patrician to fearful child; Rachel Joyce’s Emilia contrasts high passion at the end, with an earlier relaxed nonchalance; Henry Ian Cusick ensures that Cassio is no real threat to Othello’s marriage.

But, by playing three roles in a subtly different way to the usual stereotypes, Attenborough has altered the whole balance of the play and presents us with a radical and fascinating reading. Aiden McArdle’s Rodrigo is no foolish fop, but a personable and almost credible alternative suitor for Desdemona’s hand. Richard McCabe’s chilling and clinical Iago is no working-class NCO without a hope in hell of ever becoming an officer, but a well-spoken soldier with genuine prospects. Although he occasionally confides in the audience, he never seeks to woo them. If he fails to make clear the reason for his villainy, that is simply because he plays the part as Shakespeare wrote it.

Ray Fearon, in the superlative performance of the evening, plays Othello less as the unpolished soldier and more as the crippled lover. This is an Othello overwhelmed by his passion for Desdemona and, thus enfeebled, easy prey for Iago. Never have I seen Othello’s weakness and vulnerability so well exposed, never before felt such sympathy for the Moor. With Desdemona in the army-camp, Othello is divorced from his soldiers; the male sexual horseplay of the barracks quite alien to his uxorious bed. Before the gulling, there is no intimacy between him and Iago – this relationship is a million miles from the Olivier-Finlay affection of 1964. In the two great deception scenes, this Othello and Iago move from being virtual strangers to blood brothers in a powerful climax to the first half of the evening. After the interval, Fearon’s Othello takes control of the play and we see the tragic descent of a man destroyed as much by his own love of a woman, as by Iago’s malice. This is less a soldier who roars, than a lover who weeps.

Those in the audience who did not know the story were gripped and moved by its conclusion; those who did were fascinated by this intelligent insight into the play.

Robert Hole

Othello opened at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford 21 April 1999 (previews from 9 April) and continues in repertory until 7 October.