June 9, 2014
Othello Deconstructed is an adaptation of the classic Shakespearean play of love, jealousy and ultimately murder.
In this adaptation, the set has been used to continually draw the audience's attention to the bed of Othello and Desdemona- reminding us that the main theme is that of sexual jealousy. This is quite a clever way to bring the audience into the intimacy of the relationship, although the concept is perhaps slightly overdone in this production. The idea of the bed is good but perhaps the execution is less strong - the audience was at times left for too long without any dialogue or action. It also wasn't always clear why the play had paused or why our attention had been redirected to the bedroom above the main stage.
Iago, the central malevolent character in the play, was acted ably by the three actors taking the part. They lacked menace at times though. It is unclear why there were multiple actors playing each part during the production and this was somewhat confusing for the audience.
At one stage Iago is delivering a monologue outlining his evil plans, but distractingly there was a noisy set change in the background at the same time. This didn't help the audience to concentrate on Iago and could certainly have been smoother.
In general, the acting was good and the actors had clearly given some thought to the roles they were portraying. Zoe Lambrakis plays a clown and the scene when she laughingly tells some musicians to stop their music as it's more beautiful heard in silence is memorable. Her vivacity was clear and she stood out.
The performance was enjoyable although it had a few faults. I understand the concept of deconstructing Othello but sometimes it might be better to not change something when the original is excellent. The actors were good overall so I would recommend it.
In this adaptation, the set has been used to continually draw the audience's attention to the bed of Othello and Desdemona- reminding us that the main theme is that of sexual jealousy. This is quite a clever way to bring the audience into the intimacy of the relationship, although the concept is perhaps slightly overdone in this production. The idea of the bed is good but perhaps the execution is less strong - the audience was at times left for too long without any dialogue or action. It also wasn't always clear why the play had paused or why our attention had been redirected to the bedroom above the main stage.
Iago, the central malevolent character in the play, was acted ably by the three actors taking the part. They lacked menace at times though. It is unclear why there were multiple actors playing each part during the production and this was somewhat confusing for the audience.
At one stage Iago is delivering a monologue outlining his evil plans, but distractingly there was a noisy set change in the background at the same time. This didn't help the audience to concentrate on Iago and could certainly have been smoother.
In general, the acting was good and the actors had clearly given some thought to the roles they were portraying. Zoe Lambrakis plays a clown and the scene when she laughingly tells some musicians to stop their music as it's more beautiful heard in silence is memorable. Her vivacity was clear and she stood out.
The performance was enjoyable although it had a few faults. I understand the concept of deconstructing Othello but sometimes it might be better to not change something when the original is excellent. The actors were good overall so I would recommend it.