Othello

Published Thursday 6 December 2007 at 13:15 by John Thaxter

Michael Grandage’s atmospheric 17th century staging returns the play to the author with its refreshing sense that this time tragedy might just be averted - a suspenseful bonus for the hundreds of young playgoers, new to Shakespeare, who stormed the box office for the chance of seeing Ewan McGregor in the flesh.

His Iago is a resentful NCO, kicking puddles in Venice while dreaming up schemes to bring about the downfall of the hated Othello - snarling in low-key asides to the audience while otherwise presenting a face of earnest honesty. But his laddish approach is far from the usual sly villain and, tellingly, his figure is often hard to pick out when in a crowd.

In contrast Chiwetel Ejiofor’s noble, powerfully focused Othello, speaking the verse with a measured African accent, is the Shakespearean performance of the evening (perhaps of the year, despite strong rivals from Chichester and Stratford). His superb rendering of the text is married to a touching portrayal of a man reduced by Iago’s malicious lies to agonies of self-doubt, smouldering anger and in the final, fateful tableau, a deep-felt unwillingness to act against a wife he believes has been unfaithful.

Kelly Reilly’s Desdemona is a ravishing creature of girlish affections, in love but also in awe of her husband Othello, while in an early scene displaying an artless readiness to be embraced and warmly kissed by Tom Hiddleston’s swaggering Cassio. But her most intimate and telling moments come with a slow, breathtaking disrobing passage, shared with the excellent Michelle Fairley as Emilia, foreshadowing the unfolding tragic events.

I doubt if the Donmar’s open stage has ever been better deployed - a rugged box setting by Christopher Oram using Paule Constable’s lighting to create place, mood and shadowy menace, while Adam Cork’s score and sound design provide a thrilling aural narrative.