Othello by William Shakespeare
Bell Shakespeare
Drama Studio, Sydney Opera House
Thursday 22 June
Full text version of review published in today's The Daily Telegraph
A single light shines down centre-stage. A lonely figure is being blinded by another, masked and strapped to his back. His hands reach out, desperate to be let free, desperate to see.
They struggle until in an instant they disappear and the light reveals the entire stage. An open space with a central wooden platform surrounded by a high concrete wall and empty oil drums. It is the debris from a war somewhere. Maybe Iraq.
And so begins Bell Shakespeare's Othello, a tragedy of deception of the insecure Moor by the malicious sociopath Iago. It is Venice at the height of its imperial power. Othello (Wayne Blair) is the esteemed and humble black General in a world of white power. He has fallen in love and eloped with the beautiful Desdemona (Leeanna Walsman), daughter of politician and senator (Bob Baines).
Desdemona and Othello's bond would almost be perfect, if not for the jealousy of Iago (Marcus Graham) and the wicked trail of lies he plants in Othello's mind. Iago manipulates everything with deliberate obsession. He steals the much-treasured handkerchief given by Othello to Desdemona and plants it in the room of Othello’s lieutenant, Cassio (Tom Wren). It breeds accusations of adultery and deception, and the tragedy begins, spinning out of control to a final gut-wrenching end of murder, shame and terror.
Director Marion Potts has accentuated this production with issues of race by casting Aboriginal actor Wayne Blair as Othello in what must be his most accomplished performance to date. With deliberate intensity, Blair travels the stage in a mesmerising movement that verges on ancient ritual and dance. At first humble and humorous, Blair dives deep into the tragedy that shows the full force of the characters foolishness and blind sightedness.
Marcus Graham matches Blair’s intensity with a feigned innocence that shadows Othello, gliding through the space with ease and control. The two of them soar to heights of emotion that is a remarkable testimony of their skills. Supported by the devastating and touching performances of Leeanna Walsman as Desdemona and Anni Finisterer as Iago’s wife Emilia, the trail of innocent victims frames the cool evil that Iago unleashes.
The production design however is out of sync with the dominating performances of the cast, weakening the high stakes needed to explore the full tragedy of Othello. The central platform creates a barrier between the main action and the ensemble attempting to enhance atmosphere and mood. So too the clumsy use of the oil drums, missing intricacies in staging as well as unnecessary sound effects which are on the whole under whelming.
But it is Blair and Graham’s show and they are formidable in the roles that they play. Bell Shakespeare’s decision to never produce an Othello until an indigenous actor played the title role has paid off. Blair has made the role his own and the context that he gives it will resonate powerfully with audiences.
Image: Wayne Blair as Othello, Bell Shakespeare
6 comments:
Nicholas
How nice to be able to engage in a dialogue with a critic! I am an admirer of Marian Potts, I thought her production of "Cyrano" with Jeremy Simms was inspired, and think there is always a keen intelligence to her work. It gives me no pleasure to disagree with you on this one, however, especially the work of Wayne Blair. To me he was the one unforgivable thing in any production--dull. I realise the role of Othello is a very big mountain to climb, but in my opinion he got nowhere near, and Potts didn't seem to be able to get him there. Marcus Graham, always reliable, and Anni Finsterer, ditto, rose to the challenge and I felt were working almost too hard to compensate for the hollow core. It would be wonderful to say that the first Aboriginal Othello was a triumph, but that cannot honestly be said in this case.
Thats very interesting that you found Blair dull. We will have to agree to disagree on this one.
I really found an honesty and an intricacy to his performance that was compelling.
The way he would use his voice, alternating between the well spoken to the street language... his movement was so subtle, and as I said in the review verged on the ancient ritual for me. I think it was unique and avoided the Othello we almost expect.
As for the director, I have only seen her production of The Goat or Who is Sylvia? which I thought was very well done, so I cannot say much about her history.
And as far as disagreeing with me giving you no pleasure... it should please you and I am delighted you did.
Yes, yes, yes. Next!
Totally off topic but as someone who saw "Young Tycoons" twice at the Darlo because I thought it was so good, today's revelations about Kerry Packer are astonishing. I can remember a couple of scenes in the play, between Peter Kowitz (as the KP clone) and Nicholas Hammond where they talked about getting rid of the f***wit son, in almost exactly the same language. NP did you see it? Do you agree? (I know Stephen Dunne reviewed it for SMH, not sure if you did or not)
Hi darlo fan.... I was probably less of a fan of The Young Tycoons than you, but I agree that a lot of what Christopher Johnson portrayed and predicted was eerily spot on.
I have to agree with anonymous. I was very excited to watch the play with an Aborigine in the title role as I felt that it really fit with the context. But I found Blair's performance rather dissapointing. His movements weren't strong, he never really stepped into the role of the brilliant and succesful general Othello - in a word, he was just too dull. He walked about the stage with his knees bent, giving his character a rather pitiful air. I was unable to reconcile him with the other Othellos that I have seen - even in school plays, and my teacher and friends also felt that Blair brought down the tone of the play.
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