I have a few complaints about The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park program, and I basically think the Public is just plain full of it, but now is not the time nor the place. If you are fortunate enough to get tickets to their Shakespeare in the Park productions, it's definitely a great experience, even if the production is sub-par. Even if they're doing Twelfth Night for the four hundredth time. But nothing beats watching some of the greatest pieces of art ever created in the middle of Central Park, in the greatest city in the world, on (hopefully) a beautiful summer night.
Their first production this season is Othello, which is my second favorite tragedy and probably third favorite work by Shakespeare. And for some reason, regardless of its compelling and powerful nature and relatable themes, it's not performed very frequently. So I was very, very excited to finally see the Moor of Venice on stage.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson's production of Othello is strong and entertaining, with expert pacing. The three plus hours just flew by. But it's a very straight-forward production of the play. Is that a problem? Nope. Not at all. There is value in performing Shakespeare the way it's supposed to be performed. Julius Caesar doesn't always have to look and act like the sitting president, Ophelia doesn't always have to drown in a fountain, Sebastian and Antonio don't always have to wear white pumps. In fact, the play is the thing. Trust the material, trust the audience, trust that the Bard's words and storytelling are brilliant enough to stand on their own. You don't gotta get a gimmick. I suspect that in 2018, when people are finding less currency in Shakespeare and attention spans are waning (sit through three hours of Othello? the horror! the horror!), directors think that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern should be alien robots and Goneril should carry a tea cup Yorkie. Santiago-Hudson does this rare thing of you know, trusting the material and presenting it at face value. He lets the work speak for himself, and that allows for his actors to give strong performances, instead of overcompensating because they have to throw a tray of lasagna around and perform a monologue on the damn toilet.
While this Othello's troupe is uniformly excellent, I found Heather Lind as Desdemona and Alison Wright at Emilia to be the strongest. Lind's Desdemona is not as naive as she is often seen as, and perfectly expresses her turmoil over her husband's sudden change towards her. This Desdemona loves her Othello, and her heartache is palpable. Alison Wright is well-cast as Emilia (Emilia should be older than Desdemona, not a contemporary), with a take no prisoners attitude. We don't always have women supporting women in Shakespeare (we barely have women in tragedies!) but Emilia does not stand down against the men in this play. She spends her last moments defending her friend. Wright is brave, compelling, and powerful.
The men in cast are uniformly strong but I wasn't bowled over by Corey Stoll's performance. I suppose he was trying to give Iago an everyman quality, making him less menacing and threatening and friendlier; people trusted his Iago not because he intimidated him but because they just liked him. Do I agree with that reading of the character? Hm, I'm not sure if it worked for me. Why would Chukwudi Iwuji's no-nonsense Othello fall for this everyman Iago? How can this Iago easily manipulate Othello and Cassio and Rodrigo? I felt like the scenes between Iago and Othello lacked the tension and anxiety they often possess.
Santiago-Hudson makes the bold choice of having a diverse cast. True purists may have had a problem with this but I think it works; it shows that this Venice/Cyprus does not have a problem with race. It's only Iago who is racist. I think it's an even bolder choice to cast a man of color as Rodrigo, one that I'm not sure works. On the one hand, it shows that Iago has no problem with people of color so long as they are below him in standing. On the other hand, it makes the opening scenes with Brabantio a bit messy. How can Iago convince Rodrigo will have any chance with Desdemona once her father rips her away from her husband if Rodrigo and Othello are of the same race?
Regardless, the casting took nothing away from the production, and it was refreshing to see a no-frills, straightforward Othello that understood the play is the thing.
Their first production this season is Othello, which is my second favorite tragedy and probably third favorite work by Shakespeare. And for some reason, regardless of its compelling and powerful nature and relatable themes, it's not performed very frequently. So I was very, very excited to finally see the Moor of Venice on stage.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson's production of Othello is strong and entertaining, with expert pacing. The three plus hours just flew by. But it's a very straight-forward production of the play. Is that a problem? Nope. Not at all. There is value in performing Shakespeare the way it's supposed to be performed. Julius Caesar doesn't always have to look and act like the sitting president, Ophelia doesn't always have to drown in a fountain, Sebastian and Antonio don't always have to wear white pumps. In fact, the play is the thing. Trust the material, trust the audience, trust that the Bard's words and storytelling are brilliant enough to stand on their own. You don't gotta get a gimmick. I suspect that in 2018, when people are finding less currency in Shakespeare and attention spans are waning (sit through three hours of Othello? the horror! the horror!), directors think that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern should be alien robots and Goneril should carry a tea cup Yorkie. Santiago-Hudson does this rare thing of you know, trusting the material and presenting it at face value. He lets the work speak for himself, and that allows for his actors to give strong performances, instead of overcompensating because they have to throw a tray of lasagna around and perform a monologue on the damn toilet.
While this Othello's troupe is uniformly excellent, I found Heather Lind as Desdemona and Alison Wright at Emilia to be the strongest. Lind's Desdemona is not as naive as she is often seen as, and perfectly expresses her turmoil over her husband's sudden change towards her. This Desdemona loves her Othello, and her heartache is palpable. Alison Wright is well-cast as Emilia (Emilia should be older than Desdemona, not a contemporary), with a take no prisoners attitude. We don't always have women supporting women in Shakespeare (we barely have women in tragedies!) but Emilia does not stand down against the men in this play. She spends her last moments defending her friend. Wright is brave, compelling, and powerful.
The men in cast are uniformly strong but I wasn't bowled over by Corey Stoll's performance. I suppose he was trying to give Iago an everyman quality, making him less menacing and threatening and friendlier; people trusted his Iago not because he intimidated him but because they just liked him. Do I agree with that reading of the character? Hm, I'm not sure if it worked for me. Why would Chukwudi Iwuji's no-nonsense Othello fall for this everyman Iago? How can this Iago easily manipulate Othello and Cassio and Rodrigo? I felt like the scenes between Iago and Othello lacked the tension and anxiety they often possess.
Santiago-Hudson makes the bold choice of having a diverse cast. True purists may have had a problem with this but I think it works; it shows that this Venice/Cyprus does not have a problem with race. It's only Iago who is racist. I think it's an even bolder choice to cast a man of color as Rodrigo, one that I'm not sure works. On the one hand, it shows that Iago has no problem with people of color so long as they are below him in standing. On the other hand, it makes the opening scenes with Brabantio a bit messy. How can Iago convince Rodrigo will have any chance with Desdemona once her father rips her away from her husband if Rodrigo and Othello are of the same race?
Regardless, the casting took nothing away from the production, and it was refreshing to see a no-frills, straightforward Othello that understood the play is the thing.
Comments
Post a Comment