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The Royal Shakespeare Company presents OTHELLO
by William Shakespeare
Director: Kathryn Hunter
Music: Stephen Warbeck
Designer: Liz Coooke
Lighting: Mark Jonatham
Hackney Empire
10 – 14 February, 2009
Ibs
A review by Barry Grantham for EXTRA! EXTRA!
‘The Royal Shakespeare Company at the Hackney Empire’ - who would ever have thought that could happen… and why not? Well, perhaps because the Hackney Empire is a ‘Variety’ theatre – I can attest to this as I did my first variety appearance on these very boards, many a year ago. – and a ‘Variety’ theatre has a proscenium stage and neither Shakespeare, nor ensemble playing really fit well within a proscenium picture stage. The present production is none-the-less welcome and the RSC present policy of outreach is commendable. So what of this Othello at the Hackney Empire? Ah, well, a mixed bag, but as the curate says, the good parts are very good. First let me commend an outstanding Othello in Patrice Naiambana. Like the production as a whole he is rather better in the second half of a rather long evening of three and a half hours (one interval) He has the stature, and the presence and a good delivery but I am not convinced that he has seen battle or could lead his men in the face of sword and cannon. In fact Mr Naiambana is better in his weaknesses than at the time of his power, for when the suspicions planted in him by Iago (Shakespeare at his most brilliant) begin to take seed we see the very embodiment of the green-eyed monster, torturing and twisting his magnificent frame with a thousand unseen demons - and the performance grows and grows until the terrifying mattress-side murder. Due to the indisposition of Michael Gould the part of Iago was taken by Alex Hassell, and a good job he made of it too. Iago’s many faces, the good friend, the obsequious aide, the efficient soldier, were well delineated both through the text and in body language, and were expressed in his relationship with the other characters. A problem arose in his relationship with the audience, exacerbated by the restrictions of the proscenium stage - not his problem alone, but involving the whole production. I was newly made aware of the extent of the Iago soliloquies. So to whom should these be spoken? The focussing to a point just below the dress circle is not really an option. I think they should have had the courage to address these directly to the audience – especially at the Hackney Empire, with memories of Max Miller (the greatest of all at the technique), not to some amorphous mass, but to actual individuals. It is a risky business but perfectly achieved by Mark Rylance in Hamlet at the Globe a couple of years ago. I cannot but feel that the Desdemona of Natalia Tena is hampered by the costumes. The producers had determined on setting the play in the 1950’s as a time of greater racial prejudice than the present to emphasize lack of acceptance of the mixed marriage. The problem is that any period will carry with it associations that are unhelpful to a particular point of view. For example Desdemona chooses to go to the murder-bed, in frilly French knickers – an image conjuring up saucy postcards – As you will have gathered I didn’t like the costumes – with a look that it was all done on the cheap. The banana republic military seemed to have no parallel with the Mercenary forces of the Venetions. I felt the singing added little and was not well done – The ensemble playing the use of mesh screens, and the frozen groupings worked well and were well drilled. Not so, a very rough scarf dance. I did hate (as I was meant to) the parodied minstrel scenes and I do think it is time to forgive the indignity perpetrated by the minstrel men – incidentally almost all from another oppressed minority – the Jewish. It was a tradition which was rarely, if ever performed with malice. Lastly, a thank you to the director, Kathryn Hunter, with whom I did not see eye-to-eye on all matters but who was able to illumine for me many sections of a play that I thought I knew well. One cannot ask for more.
Dates: Tuesday 10 – Saturday 14th February Venue: Hackney Empire, Mare St. Hackney, E8 1EJ Box Office: 020 8985 2424 www.hackneyempire.co.uk Tickets: £12 - £22 and concessions
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