Othello continues at the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor until 15 October 2022.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
If anyone could be super creative with a Shakespearean tragedy, it has to be the Watermill. Shakespeare’s plays were written in a time when they were meant to be performed rather than read and if any student lacks passion for the Bard, they will be well and truly stimulated by this captivating production. Additionally in this age of jukebox musicals from Bat out of Hell to & Juliet, has anyone produced a “jukebox Shakespeare”? You heard it here first…
Peppered with diverse genres of songs from Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’ to ‘Killing Me Softly’ from the Fugees and Lauryn Hill (or Roberta Flack for us more “established” afficionados), the thematic use of music labels each character with a musical genre that reflects their individuality in Paul Hart and Anjali Mehra’s production.
Casting is bold and exciting in a production where dialogue may refer to race but in reality the emphasis of this interpretation is focused more on the equality of the sexes without detracting from the tragedy that is caused by Othello’s own flawed jealousy. Augustina Seymour plays Brabanzia, Desdemona’s mother (as opposed to the usual casting of a male Brabantio) and Sophie Stone is a demonstrative powerhouse as a female Iago exuding menace as she manipulates Roderigo (played unquestionably by Ediz Mahmut). It could be argued that this might change the sexual dynamic, yet it injects a deeper maliciousness to Othello’s downfall and makes it all the more powerful.
The cast has a strong understanding of how to deliver the Shakespearean lines with some divinely amusing touches from Benedict Salter as a Scottish Duke of Venice who reads from his desk calendar as if the verse is a daily inspirational poem. Molly Chesworth gives Desdemona the strength of an independent woman confined by the social structure of the time and Chioma Uma steals the limelight with Emilia’s impassioned speech of realisation.
Yazdan Qafouri is hugely likeable as Cassio with Damien James as Montano, Laura Andresen Guimaraes as Bianca and Kalungi Ssebandeke whose portrayal is not as omnipotent as other Othello’s but has a physicality that personifies his indomitable mindset.
Julie Watterston
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