O!thello

‘I am not what I am’, the classic line spoken by Iago in Act 1 of ‘Othello’, for me sums up this particular theatre experience. Having studied the play at school I was sceptical as to how much I’d enjoy it, school having sucked the joy out of the play with its meticulous dissection and necessary quote learning. Shakespeare is often very long and requires focused attention or the plot will become lost among the babble of Jacobean English language. So I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the performance.

Baron’s Court Theatre is a very small venue, seating up to about 90 people, in a basement location. Being situated below a pub did have its drawbacks, as we could sometimes hear people walking around the floor above. Also, there was not a lot of legroom and it got rather hot, the combination of many bodies and theatre lighting leading to my cheeky snack of chocolate fingers unfortunately melting in the pocket of my coat, and I noticed one audience member with her head between her legs attempting to avoid a fainting fit. However, this did not detract from the play, performed by newly formed theatre company ‘Swivel’, which seemed to be mainly young actors- definitely not a bad point that they were all attractive.

First impressions were perhaps not all that good. The set design seemed a little confused, with traditional wooden furniture mixed with swivelling office chairs. Also, it was a modern dress production, and some choices, like Desdemona’s hair in her first scene were just a bit odd. On the issue of Desdemona, played by Devon Lang Wilton, she is actually Australian, and the accent sticks out compared to rest of the cast- especially her British father. However, her bouncy and enthusiastic acting, which starts of as a bit annoying, actually becomes a real benefit, making the play easier to understand and very modern. Her literary husband, Othello, played by El Razzougui , also has an accent, although seems more appropriate, considering Othello was a moor, a rare aspect of Venetian Society at that time. However, the acting of Razzaougi seemed a bit one sided- he was either shouting or crying with little in between.

But the majority of the play was excellent. There were genuine moments of humour, like the synchronised movements of the soldiers, and one scene where all the male characters are drinking and basically behaving like it’s a lad’s night out. Also the fight scene following the drinking scene was choreographed brilliantly, with the audience emitting nervous laughter as punches and kicks went flying, turning to slight panic when knives were revealed.

One thing I will say is this is not to play to take your very Conservative granny to. One scene involves a bare chest, and when Iago (Tom Fava) and Emilia (Jennifer Shakesby) kiss, things get a bit heated, and the same thing happens with Cassio (Tom Stanley) and Bianca (Gemma Barrett). But for the most of us, this just adds to the entertainment value.

For me, the star of the play was undoubtedly Tom Fava as Iago. He played his part as the villain very well, and the sense of malice can be felt by the audience. He also interjects humour and delivers some brilliant asides and monologues. Actually, all the actors seemed very enthusiastic and made this play a really good night out. It’s being performed until February 20^th, so go! You can even have a meal/drink in the pub upstairs before. This is an excellent production of one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, and I especially advise this for anyone who saw Hamlet at the National Theatre with Rory Kinnear- another brilliant modern dress production.