To see Othello live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, I went to the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre's Second Space. A 200 seat compact but well designed small auditorium, steeply raked seating but limited leg room and not the most comfortable seats for a three hour play.
I had only seen Othello once before and that was the RSC touring production at the Oxford Playhouse in 2009. I preferred this version. The staging was brilliant and the director, Iqbal Khan, did a terrific job. Hugh Quarshie is not a natural Moor, I guess his never ending role in TV's Holby City doesn't help. But he speaks the verse well and his anger is painfully obvious. But I have severe reservations about Lucian's Msamati's Iago, the subject of much discussion as the first black actor to play this role. I had nothing against this in principle, in fact I thought it a worthwhile experiment. It's just that I missed three quarters of his words. And his natural comic background sometimes is a disadvantage in his expressions. But that is the downside of a close up camera for a theatrical production.
No such problems for the rest of the cast, Joanna Vanderham particularly good as Desdemona. It was also interesting to see many of the cast from last weeks visit to Stratford appearing here. Brian Protheroe was again excellent, this time as Brabantio. The televised production was again very good so what we lose in missing being there, we gain in the close ups and the sound.
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