Othello at Northern Stage and on tour – review

An early experience with a laughably melodramatic production of Othello admittedly had me worried about what to expect from this production, and as a 1980s baby myself, I wanted to see if this production’s Falklands-era setting accurately echoed my distant memories of conflicts on fuzzy TV screens that bristled with static.

It turns out the worries were unfounded, and the retro setting works perfectly to transport the audience to a bygone era without crossing over into fancy dress or rose-tinted caricature – a backdrop against which this timeless Shakespearean tale comes to life for new audiences.

Presented by Northern Stage, HOME Manchester and Citizens Theatre, in association with the Royal and Derngate and directed by Anthony Almeida, this iteration of the famed tragedy brings the doomed lovers and their friends, foes and family to a remote military outpost in Cyprus in 1982, right in the middle of the Falkland War.

The stage, designed by Natasha Jenkins, is set simply, with an imposing ominous fence that shapeshifts as the interpersonal battles bloom alongside the international conflict. Crates, a rotary telephone, an old television showing real news footage of the time, and landmine-esque tables that hold up a platform all help to truly ground us in wartime.

However, it’s the creative and fluid use of this space, and the physicality of the cast in occupying it, that beckons the audience into an inner world full of passion, deception, intrigue and ultimately, grief – a testament to the work of movement director Giaele Mattioli.

Dwane Walcott’s Othello is not the shouting man I remember from my teenage brush with this play. Across three hours he transforms from infatuated newlywed to stoic general, dissolving in front of our eyes from paranoia to the depths of despair and his own ruin.

It is genuinely astonishing that Phoebe Smyth’s raw portrayal of the tragic Desdemona is this actor’s professional stage debut. Multi-faceted, without histrionics or falling into an ingénue trope, Smyth portrays Othello’s ill-fated wife as powerful, spirited and real – a thoroughly believable young girl in love.

Maanuv Thiara’s Iago is a performance that hooks the audience in from the very start. His warm affable demeanour that switches on a dime, and impeccable delivery of the most saccharine of deceits, makes us understand how Othello is going to be easily taken in by his treachery.

The soundscape played a significant role in creating a creeping sense of dread throughout the play as the bass rumbled through the seats. At points the cues felt somewhat unnatural, forcing feelings that hadn’t yet been adequately evoked onstage.

On the other hand, the innovative use of iconic 1980s tracks to give us emotional whiplash is nothing short of perfection, from the nightmarish slowing of Dexys Midnight Runners as characters begin to spiral, to Smyth and Rebecca Banatvala’s Emilia serenading each other with Tears For Fears.

No melodrama here as this Othello trades it for something far more devastating: a slow, unbearable unravelling that never once has to shout to be believed.