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I have seen some excellent productions of Othello in my time (the Sheffield Crucible production starring Clarke Peters and Dominic West from The Wire leaps to mind), but this is undoubtedly the most compelling version I have encountered. Othello’s obsession with appearances is the reason why he is content to watch Cassio’s supposed confession, despite the fact that confessions are heard rather than seen. He also turns Lodovico’s letters—which announce that Othello has been replaced by Cassio as governor of Cyprus in the same manner in which he believes Cassio has replaced him in the bedroom—into “ocular proof” that he is being supplanted.
Scott Graham’s retelling of the classic Othello bursts with violence, betrayal and jealousy. Set in a run-down pub, rival gangs battle over what is theirs, and friends turn enemies as lies are spat and pushed around the group. Within this at times pulsing red pub a microcosm of the society Shakespeare created plays outs with loves and hopes born and torn down.
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Act 2, scene 3 Iago gets Cassio drunk, making it easy for Roderigo to provoke Cassio into a brawl, first with Roderigo, then with Montano, whom he wounds. Othello, called from his bed by the noise, stops the brawl and strips Cassio of his lieutenancy. Iago advises Cassio to seek Desdemona’s help in getting reinstated. The next step in Iago’s plan is to tell Othello that Desdemona supports Cassio because Cassio is her lover. True to the ever-popular Frantic Assembly style, Othello is alive with energy. House music envelopes the audience, drowning out all other sounds so we are instantly caught up in the world of the play. The tempo of the performance is set with a fast-paced opening sequence showing flirtations, fights, and power struggles, finally establishing Othello as the all-powerful, magnetic leader of men. A special mention must go to the fantastic Tom Gill as he portrayed the wrongly accused Cassio, who had some of the most intricate moments of choreography in the show. In the first act of Othello, Cyprus is clearly not such a world; it is a territory of Venice, to which Othello and company are called as a matter of state. As soon as the Turkish threat has been eliminated, however, the characters seem to lose their connection to Venetian society, and, with its festivities and drunken revelry, Cyprus then seems to have more in common with the alien, pastoral worlds of many of Shakespeare’s comedies. Youknow to expect something innovative and amazing when at a Frantic Assembly production and their version of Othello is no exception. We entered the auditorium to loud drum and bass music and were thereby prepared for a street version of a play written 400 years ago.
York Notes for A Level on Othello is the ultimate companion to William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy and will help you get to grips with all dimensions of the text. Exploring aspects of the work including the play’s genre, structure, characters, historical context and symbolism, this comprehensiverevision guide to Othello at A Level and AS will help you to write the very best examination responses and secure the best grade you can. But this play stands or falls by its Iago. Jamie Smelt was terrific – plotting, scheming, playing his puppets at will, then turning to confide in the audience with a knowing glance that seemed to say: ‘‘You see what fools they are?.’’ Tremendous. Violence, sexuality, jealousy, racism and revenge are eternal dramatic themes.This adaptation by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett manages to use Shakespearean language while resetting the play in apub, on an estate, in Northern England where gang members congregate. The raw violence of their lives rumbles alongside ideas of hierarchyand rigid values which fit perfectly with Shakespeare’s England. Their dialect blends with the rhythms and patterns of the speech enriching thedelivery.Othello was performed by Frantic Assembly at York Theatre Royal Tuesday 18 October 2022. The Director was Scott Graham. Act 3, scene 4 Desdemona, still actively seeking to have Cassio reinstated, is worried about the loss of her handkerchief. Her anxiety about it increases when Othello asks her for it and then sternly rebukes her when she cannot produce it. Cassio approaches her, but she must now, because of Othello’s anger, postpone her efforts on his behalf. As he waits, Bianca, his lover, appears. Cassio has found Desdemona’s handkerchief in his room (placed there by Iago) and he asks Bianca to copy the embroidery work for him. Othello plays at the York Theatre Royal until Saturday 22 October when it continues its tour across England, finishing in early February 2023.
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