Othello (Donmar)

After the excitement of Ian McKellen’s Royal Shakespeare Company King Lear comes this holiday season’s other hottest theatre ticket – incredibly, another Shakespeare tragedy opening less than a week later. Of course, while the intimate atmosphere of the Donmar provides an exciting canvas for actors, the size of the auditorium (just 250 seats) does mean demand for tickets to hits like this here can reach astronomical proportions – apparently Othello tickets are going for up to £2,000 on ebay.

But let’s focus on the work rather than the ticket economics. And canvas there is the right word as director Michael Grandage and designer Christopher Oram have created something that looks like it could have been painted by Rembrandt. Much of the action takes place in a semi-shade in a world where black, brown and grey dominate – highly appropriate for a play where much of the action takes place at night.

As the manipulator of much of the action, much of the attention naturally focuses on Iago, particularly as being played here by Ewan McGregor, in his Shakespearean debut. Most modern productions tend to tackle Iago in one of three ways: as a blunt-speaking NCO, a thwarted homosexual or a Machiavellian joker who disguises his scheming through jokes.

McGregor is none of these. He’s a plain-speaking Iago. And while he’s well able to mask the character’s machinations, what we don’t get is any justification for his actions. Is he motivated by jealousy at being passed over? Or thwarted homosexual attraction? McGregor’s rather flat delivery leaves his Iago totally inscrutable.

Not so Kelly Reilly’s captivating Desdemona. Here’s a picture of a young woman totally in love with her man and genuinely bemused as he turns against her. She’s no wide-eyed innocent, but rather a woman totally at ease with her sexuality, flirting openly with Tom Hiddleston’s impressive Cassio – and thereby making Iago’s accusations all too believable. There’s a strong performance too from Michelle Fairley as Emilia, the only character who seems to recognise that there’s some plot afoot even if she can’t place her finger on what it is.

However, all the actors are upstaged by the superb Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello. You utterly believe that this is a man who, to begin with, truly is “not easily jealous”, incapable of entertaining thoughts of his wife’s infidelity. Ejiofor eschews the trend to portray Othello as some latent psychopath. His verse-speaking is first-rate, his dignified, softly-spoken Moor always compelling.

This is an excellent production of Othello. It’s a hot ticket all right, and maybe unconscionably dear, but it will be worth it if you can get one.

– Maxwell Cooter