Othello Review

As one of the big Shakespeares I'd never seen (quite a few remain), I was really looking forward to this one. And it was done by the RSC. Oh well. At least I can report that the Hackney Empire has a really cool bar attached to it, and that they dont mind if you eat Sainsburys food there, so long as you drink their drinks.

Othello at Hackney Empire, 11/02/09

This is a very long show, with little to recommend it. The performances are bland, the direction on the weak side, and the result is a production which neither challenges nor entices.

The performances first, then. Patrice Naiambana plays Othello with an accent that flits from London to RP to West Africa, not necessarily in line with Othello’s moods. That said, he has both gravitas and insanity in him; like so many Othellos, where he stumbles is the tricky transition from one to the next. Only a stand-in, Alex Hassell cannot perhaps be blamed for his Iago, which is passable enough. He adds an interesting vulnerability to the role, but it is not believable that a man could be so maliciously persuasive who fluffs so many lines. Cassio and Desdemona are perhaps the pick of the performances, both played with the naivety demanded of them.

The weaknesses are exposed by a desolate stage, bereft of set for many scenes. Without innovation in lighting, background or set, a huge burden is placed on the actors. Significantly, the highlights of the production are the two scenes when the set is at its most lavish. A set of wooden screens is put to effect, firstly as an impressive stormy sea lashing two surprisingly believable galleys. Their second use is as stormy allegory to Othello’s epilectic fit. In both, with skilful lighting, they add some excitement.

Kathryn Hunter, who directs the production, might have smoothed much of this over. She could have chided Naiambana for his wayward accent. She might similarly have asked Rodrigo and Brabantio to stop their comedic Italian accents. She might have trimmed this long play a little; it may be Shakespeare, but it is not a holy text. She certainly did not need to add quite so many songs, nor did a background sex scene add anything to plot or atmosphere.

Finally, setting the play in what was probably (though by no means certainly) Mussolini’s Italy, allows the audience to condemn the protagonists as evil fascists, and thus not confront the uncomfortably contemporary themes racism.