As Jane Page’s stunning production of “Othello” opens, air-raid sirens blare while stark black-and-white World War I images are projected onto the stage. A snapshot of a man struggling across a wind-ravaged desert is transposed with one of soldiers’ skulls lining a trench. These quick hits are, presumably, disturbing visual clues into this Othello’s mercenary military past.
Suddenly the chaos is made three-dimensional as the fair Desdemona descends from the theater balcony and to the floor on a rope, escaping into the Venetian night with her forbidden lover. It is perfectly acceptable for this black hired gun from Libya to lead Italy in battle, but he’s considered a savage for having beguiled this virtuous white girl of her honest affections.
Before a word is spoken, this audience is embedded in World War I Venice. The battle between Italy and the Turks may be paused, but a war of wits and wills, with equally devastating consequences, is only just beginning here.
In so swiftly creating both this world and a mood of impending danger, Page succeeds in making both Shakespeare’s story and his language more immediately accessible. This is an audience that is engaged and comprehending matters from the first moment.
War is a perfect window for entering the world of “Othello,” for nothing here is as it should be. Everything is upside down. War is hell on Earth. And in a play where the denouement begins at the first uttered word, not only is a general made into a pawn by his wicked underling, but all who are honest are made to seem the opposite.
This is not a love story but a seduction in reverse – Iago lures Othello from his civilized present back to his most base, violent past. Here, as in war, paranoia trumps reason. And a successful general will be taken down in a heartbeat.
“Othello” is the triumph of the 48th Colorado Shakespeare Festival not only because of the epic grandeur of its opening moments, but for its wrenchingly intimate portrayal of a great man’s unraveling. That may seem inevitable to any audience, but in the hands of such outstanding actors, it is mesmerizing to watch.
Some may be disappointed “Othello” is being presented in the University of Colorado’s mainstage theater, but this production is marked by such a violent intimacy, it could not work as well outdoors. This is a production of precision and passion, one brimming with grandiose emotional honesty even in its smallest moments.
When Desdemona (Elgin Kelley) is confronted with her husband’s jealousy, she implores her lord to trust in his love for her. With her name and her life at stake, the actress does not beg. Desdemona takes Othello’s hand and puts it to his head, then moves it to his chest. Wordlessly, she has asked, “What does your mind and your heart tell you to be true?” But this tender moment turns horrible in an instant when Othello grabs her hand and moves it to her crotch. It’s a stunning reversal.
As Othello, veteran stage and screen actor John Cothran talks so fast at times that his lines become difficult to comprehend. But he delivers such a frighteningly plausible demise, his brutal strangulation of his wife looks uncomfortably lifelike.
Kelley’s Desdemona is a bravura turn. She brings not only uncommon clarity to the character but riveting vulnerability. Karen Slack bides her time as Iago’s wife Emilia, then delivers a closing emotional salvo that is astonishing. The character’s only real purpose is to establish Desdemona’s inarguable innocence, propelling Othello toward his demise. Slack owns her moment.
The great controversy of this production will be Matthew Penn’s thrillingly unconventional approach to Iago as a man whose moral switch simply flicks the moment he is passed over by Othello for a military promotion. Many actors play Iago as a charming sweet-talker turned melodramatic fiend. Penn’s dead eyes and nasty demeanor eradicate any suggestion of caricature or exaggeration. His character may be emotionally dead, but the actor’s measured performance is most alive.
Penn does not revel in Iago’s downfall – he just falls, and that feels chillingly natural. No one can be fooled by any outward appearances of integrity because Penn boldly presents none. “I am not what I am,” Iago says bluntly in the first scene – and by play’s end four bodies are mocked in death for not abiding his honest words.
By playing Iago as a blatantly cold monster living fearlessly in our midst, he’s daring someone, anyone, to see him for what he truly is. But most people need to presume goodness in those around them. They don’t want to see the BTK murderer or a suicide bomber living next door. They are done in by the kind cruelty of human nature.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
“Othello”
***½
TRAGEDY|Colorado Shakespeare Festival|Directed by Jane Page|Starring John Cothran, Matthew Penn, Elgin Kelley, Karen Slack and Elliot C. Villar|University of Colorado-Boulder mainstage theater (indoors)|THROUGH AUG. 12|7 tonight, Sunday and Thursday (subsequent dates vary|2 hours, 55 minutes|$10-$50|303-492-0554 or coloradoshakes.org
2more
“JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT” The Physically Handicapped Amateur Musical Actors League’s annual musical presentations are unlike anything you have seen, and this year’s offering promises to be one of its most powerful yet as the Andrew Lloyd Webber Bible rocker is set in a loosely defined institution. Starring the great tandem of Leonard Barrett and Jeremy Palmer. 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, plus 7:30 p.m. July 25, at the Space Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Tickets $25 (303-893-4100).
“HUMBLE BOY” Firehouse Theatre Company presents a top cast in this peculiar British comedy about an astrophysicist who finds himself in a kind of “Hamlet” when he returns home for the funeral of his beekeeper father. Final performances 8 p.m. today and Saturday at the John Hand Theatre, 7653 E. First Place. Tickets $13-$15 (303-562-3232).
-John Moore
