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Sean Patrick Thomas and Elizabeth Waterston.
Photo by Chris Bennions.
There are times when a brilliant production can successfully carry a flawed play, and other times when a brilliant play can successfully carry a flawed production. While the Theatre for a New Audience production of William Shakespeare’s Othello, currently playing at the Intiman Theatre, may not fall squarely into the second category, it skirts the edge.
The production, directed by Arin Arbus, is interesting, but not fascinating. The staging, designed by Peter Ksander and lit by Marcus Doshi, is clever, but not exciting. The cast – led by Sean Patrick Thomas as the noble Moor Othello, John Campion as the manipulative villain Iago, Elizabeth Waterston as the innocent, maligned Desdemona, and Kate Forbes as Iago’s ill-treated wife Emilia – is respectable, but not stellar.
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s great masterpieces, filled with passion, wit, poetry and poignant human insight. It is a tragedy of epic proportion, yet last night’s performance failed to deliver the full emotional measure of this tale of love, deception, jealousy, madness, murder and suicide. But despite it shortcomings, and based largely on the merits of the play itself, the performance was still entertaining, timelessly meaningful, and worthwhile.
First, there was the distracting hodge-podge of effected accents ranging from Thomas’ quasi-British Shakespearian style to Campion’s unrecognizable dialect. Waterston and the remaining cast’s myriad of American stylizations (popular and accepted in today’s Shakespearean productions, but rarely as convincing) also left something to be desired.
Then, there was the lack of chemistry between Thomas’ Othello and Waterston’s Desdemona, which was further challenged by Waterston’s significantly taller stature. Most disappointing was Waterston and Thomas’ failure to fully capture the power and passion of the bedroom murder scene, where Desdemona pleads for her life as Othello’s jealous rage consumes him, and he suffocates Desdemona with a pillow.
The minimalist staging, cut to the barest of design, costumes and props, might have worked had the acting been mesmerizing, but without this, it simply amplified the production’s imperfections.
Still, there were captivating moments of humor and revulsion, well-delivered by Iago’s soliloquies and aside gestures; of excitement and adventure prompted by eruptions of swordplay and brawls; and of foreboding anticipation aroused by the eerie childhood lullaby Desdemona sings on the eve of her murder.
Though perhaps not the definitive production, the Intiman’s presentation of Othello, which runs through August 9, is still well worth the time (2 hr. 55 min.) and ticket.
The cast also includes Denis Butkus (Roderigo), Stevie Ray Dallimore (Brabantio, Lodovico), Lucas Hall (Cassio), Robert Langdon Lloyd (The Duke, Gratiano), Elizabeth Meadows Rouse (Bianca), Christian Rummel (Montano) and Lucas Steele (Senator/Gentleman/Musician).
Tickets are available online, via phone (206.269.1900) or at the theatre Ticket Office. Adults prices are $22-$62 (depending upon the date and time). Youth price (25 and under) is $10. Senior prices (65 and over) are $22-$57 (depending on date and time).
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