THEATER REVIEW
Othello by William Shakespeare - Produced by: The Arena Players Repertory Company - Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur
It’s a common misconception that all of William Shakespeare’s plays are magnificent works of art. Not so. Like the products of any prolific playwright, some of The Bard’s plays are better than others. Granted, Shakespeare far and away leads the pack of those who have written for the stage in the English language, but while some of his works smack of pure genius, others are only mediocre.
Othello fits somewhere in between. But what this lengthy, contrived play does offer is a platform for several individual virtuoso performances … and in particular, that of Iago, the hateful villain who reigns among Shakespearian anti-heroes as the most despicable in a long line of heavies.
Let it be said at the outset that the Arena Players’ prodigy, Dean Schildkraut, expertly leads a cast of actors most of whom are surprisingly effective in this visually modernized version of Othello, the Moor of Venice (which title, director Frederic DeFeis has changed to ‘Othello, The Black of Angola,’ probably to accommodate the 20th Century setting)
Dean Schildkraut Excels in OthelloBe that as it may, we all know what Othello is … the tragic tale of a dark-skinned General (Othello – Mark Swinson) … who secretly marries a white woman (Desdemona – Mary Caulfield) … and is provoked to jealousy-inspired murder by a vengeful underling (Iago – Dean Schildkraut) … who’s been passed over for promotion.
Of course, there’s more to Iago’s motivation than his merely being overlooked for advancement; indeed Shakespeare never clearly defined what drives the nasty conniver. And to the brilliant Schildkraut’s credit, the actor arranges for Iago to keep his own counsel in the matter, leaving the audience to wonder if indeed the evil character himself ever knew, what propelled him.
It’s hardly any wonder that the likes of Barrymore, Rathbone, Plummer … and my favorite, Michael MacLiammóir … all went to such lengths to be cast as Iago at one time or another in their storied careers. Because though the play might be titled Othello, it’s driven by Iago. The Moor could conceivably be played by a tree stump when being emotionally torn apart by his young (28-year-old) ensign … but without Iago’s keen insight into what makes a jealous individual tick, there simply would be no play.
Dean Schildkraut’s remarkable virtuosity notwithstanding, no one attending this unusual version of Othello during the next month should expect the same degree of thespian expertise from Mark Swinson. As the battle-tested General he is plainly in over his head. Swinson has no idea what to do with his hands … he substitutes swagger for regality … and his voice is thin to the point of inaudibility. Evan Donnellan, the duped Lieutenant who plays Cassio so convincingly, would have been a better choice to hold down the title role.
Mary Caulfield’s Desdemona is beautifully rendered (what a lovely singing voice the young woman has!) … and she and her maid, Emilia (JesAlmeida), play off one another as if the parts were written for them. The prostitute, Bianca (Luisa Bikowski) provides a nice touch with something I’d never seen in previous mountings of this play … a Salome-like dance that more than establishes her ‘professional’ credentials. Such a thing would have been impossible in Elizabethan England, of course, when female roles were filled by young boys.
The lovesick Roderigo (Tyler Williams), so essential in establishing Iago’s devious nature, interprets his part properly, thereby rounding-out the six principal players on whom the tragedy turns.
Prospective attendees heading to the Vanderbilt Museum’s breathtaking courtyard theater between now and August 30, should not be dissuaded by the failure of one player in a cast where so many excel. Several years ago I saw James Earl Jones virtually ruin a production of Othello, but it was Christopher Plummer’s sterling Iago that I remember most vividly when recalling that night at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1982.
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Award-winning writer, Jeb Ladouceur is the author of ten novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. Ladouceur’s newest thriller THE QUANTUM SYNDROME is patterned on the Atlanta child murders of the 80s. His eleventh book, THE SEQUEL, will explore the odd relationship between Harper Lee and Truman Capote.