Othello
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Cititour.com Review
Who knew filmdom’s greatest good guy could not only be such a bad guy – but so good at being bad? Indeed, the chief pleasure of Sam Gold’s often bracing, sometimes strangely directed production of William Shakespeare’s “Othello,” now at New York Theatre Workshop, is watching 007 himself, Daniel Craig, hand in a career-defining performance as the malevolent, malicious Iago.
From the first few moments of this legendary tragedy, Craig’s Iago shares his hatred of his military leader and supposedly good friend Othello (a highly forceful David Oyelowo) – and practically everyone else in his orbit – with us freely and without shame. But to everyone else, although Iago is not exactly Mr. Nice Guy, he’s such an everyguy that none in his orbit could never imagine him capable of the dastardly deeds and acts he sets in motion.
Ultimately, those include the murder (or near-murder) of Iago’s outspoken wife Emilia (a very fine Marsha Stephanie Blake), hapless pal Roderigo (Matthew Maher), and Othello’s mostly upstanding lieutenant Michael Cassio (the handsome, stalwart Finn Wittrock), whom Iago resents greatly for taking his place as Othello’s right-hand man.
However, Iago’s true endgame, one that no one ever figures out, is making Othello insanely jealous of his super-sweet and utterly faithful wife Desdemona (a charming Rachel Bosnahan), slowly, surely convincing the hot-tempered “moor” that Desdemona has betrayed him with Cassio. As his deception leads to its inevitable end, Craig’s Iago shows not the least remorse – he’s a man fully at peace with his own actions. That almost everyone on stage calls him “Honest Iago” – a moniker that we know is so incredibly false – is true in its own way, as Craig’s Iago is never less-than-honest with himself.
Unfortunately, this inventive director too often makes odd, distracting staging choices, from placing everything on a dull all-wood unit set of an army barracks (by Andrew Lieberman) to having the opening scene spoken in complete darkness to having many of the ensemble members loll about half-naked, strumming guitars, or otherwise pulling focus to no discernible effect.
The modern-dress costumes (by David Zinn), heavy on gym shorts and other activewear, are not overly attractive, especially for a show that runs over three hours in length. And substituting the famous strawberry handkerchief with a knitted scarf, without changing the text, is fairly ridiculous.
Fortunately, Gold trusts his main actors, especially Craig and Oyelowo, and Shakespeare’s text enough of the time that the production is mostly riveting.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.nytw.org/show/othello
Cast
David Wilson Barnes, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Rachel Brosnahan, Daniel Craig, Blake DeLong, Danaya Esperanza, Glenn Fitzgerald, Brian Flores, Slate Holmgren, Conan McCarty, Anthony Michael Lopez, Matthew Maher, Nikki Massoud, David Oyelowo, Michael Schantz, Kyle Vincent Terry, Finn Wittrock
Open/Close Dates
Opening 11/22/2016
Closing 1/18/2017
Box Office
212-460-5475
Theatre Info
New York Theatre Workshop
79 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
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