703 posts
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Post by theatremiss on Dec 5, 2022 21:47:39 GMT
Reviews seem to be very strong but I didn’t find it nearly as interesting, enjoyable or radical as most of the press seem to. Not a patch on the relatively recent Adrian Lester / Rory Kinnear version in the same building for my money. As many have said it’s Paul Hilton’s show and he’s doing fine work, and aside from Roderigo (who was doing some very shouty hand-gesture-y acting) most of the other performances are good, especially Tanya Franks as Emilia who comes closest of anyone to awakening some proper emotion in the audience. But the production is so full of sound and light it’s hard to care. The sound booms and the lights jitter so it plays like a horror film… until it doesn’t and the final bedroom scene seems like they ran out of technical rehearsal time. This contrast of mega concept, followed by stark plain performance on a basically bare stage strangely has the affect of making all the deaths seem especially silly - just lots of people running at each other with knives and then falling neatly in position in an almost parody of the end of a Shakespearean tragedy. So, not for me, ultimately, but clearly many found something in it that passed me by. I’ve not seen it yet, I think in Feb. But I totally agree the Kinnear/Lester production was rather good, with Kinnear being the stand out performance imho. I do judge this play by how well Iago is portrayed. |
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Post by theoracle on Dec 9, 2022 0:39:06 GMT
I must say I really enjoyed this. I was a little concerned about the 3hr run time but both acts whizzed by for me and the suspense was held very well throughout. Giles Terera was very much in his element as the titular character and was pleasantly surprised to see how in shape he was when he takes his shirt off... Paul Hilton was deliciously cunning as Iago and you could feel the reaction of those around you as we watched him manipulate the other characters leading to the ultimate tragedy in the end. Tanya Franks also gave a very memorable performance - her outrage at the final scene and her naivety around Iago is totally believable. I also really loved how this set fills the wide Lyttleton stage whilst remaining rather minimalistic with the ensemble cast filling most of the space and the projections adding that touch of intensity too. Very highly recccomend this!
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309 posts
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Post by jm25 on Dec 9, 2022 23:38:39 GMT
I liked it. I agree with everyone about the 3 hour run time not being a problem, but I would say the pacing in the second half feels stronger.
The cast is solid but Paul Hilton is the clear standout. I also quite liked the minimalist set design - and that type of thing isn’t usually my cup of tea! I think the largeness of the stage allows the other actors in the company to use the space in an interesting enough way that you don’t miss a more traditional set.
I went into this aware (obviously!) of Othello but not having read/seen it and certainly not familiar with its performance history. To me it seemed to focus fairly equally on Othello and Iago, which I liked.
3.5 stars from me, generously rounded up to 4 for the poll!
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423 posts
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Post by dlevi on Dec 10, 2022 10:58:11 GMT
While I didn't particularly like Mr Dyer's social agenda based re-thinking of what the play was about ( the need for the society around Othello to see him fail, Women's empowerment etc.) I thought the design elements of the production were outstanding as were the committed performances by the actors. The production held my attention through out. Not a triumph by any means but in no way a disaster.
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1,828 posts
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Post by Dave B on Dec 11, 2022 20:07:57 GMT
Well, the front row £20 were an absolute smash here. Other than that.... The set design and sound/lighting effects lend to the feel that we're in some other-worldly hellish descent. The whole cast apart from Othello and Iago are billed as also playing "System". I wasn't sure what this meant. It felt like Iago was playing to his imagined audience in his head. It came across as a bit muddled. I think there is some other intent here. The ensemble, 'System' have small but clearly choreographed movements as they are sat on the set in the background throughout. Towards the end, in particular as we see the blood and violence, the movement happens a lot more often and even more choreographed so that it almost ripples through the ensemble. I thought the intent was a computer glitch, like there was just a little stutter - more than once I thought they were doing a version of a glitch in the Matrix.
There isn't much more in the production that I noticed around this but combined with the System listing in the programme... I am puzzled - it certainly seems to be suggesting something.
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747 posts
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Post by Latecomer on Dec 11, 2022 21:41:15 GMT
Saw this with my daughter. We first saw Othello at the Donmar and that started ALL my theatre-going. I thought this was a bit flawed, in that Paul Hilton looked and acted like an unpleasant villain all the time….as my daughter said “you could believe people thinking Ewan McGregor was an honest likeable fellow, but this Iago just seems like a nasty piece of work all the time”.
I quite enjoyed all the “choreography” of the people on the steps and the set. And the flaming torches were lovely. But was not moved by the ending so no cigar from me!
I didn’t think it was a particularly different reading of the play…in my view Othello is always so quick to believe that D has betrayed him as he is an outsider, both in terms of his heritage and his cultural knowledge. I’m always struck by how modern the play is when it comes to the treatment of women….and essentially the “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander” bit…..and women like sex as much as men do….just women’s lib all on display!
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Post by theatregeek2012 on Dec 27, 2022 18:45:45 GMT
It's a solid production. I had fun. It wasn't really emotional. But Paul Hilton is great as IAgo… he enjoys the role, it shows and it's contagious. Last saw him in INHERITANCE and thought he was awesome there. Desdemona was also brilliantly embodied. A beautiful mixture of confident woman and mistress of Othello. A bit long-winded in between, but all in all a good production.
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1,245 posts
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Post by joem on Dec 28, 2022 18:37:58 GMT
This was rather good without being awesomely great. Paul Hilton takes the acting honours for a nasty Iago (will we ever see a nice one?) but I'm very fond of Giles Terera and he had a fragility which, whilst undermining belief in him as a great warrior, becomes increasingly effective as his emotional weaknesses are exploited/explored.
I quite liked the setting and the projections, I didn't find them intrusive. The (mostly) silent Greek chorus does seem to be a bit too much. You do kind of get the point in the first few minutes after which they become a rather pointless stage decoration. Some of the intimate scenes - and this is a common moan from me in recent times - seem to be played at a great distance (eg the first half of Desdemona's death scene) when they should be direct physical confrontations.
My last stage Othello, believe it or not, was Paul Scofield. I would have loved to see Adrian Lester but somehow missed it. I do think that we avid theatregoers can sometimes exhibit jaded palates and I would say, as gently as possible, it isn't always about us. 9 years is practically half a generation. Hopefully hundreds of thousands of new theatregoers have come on stream since then. They deserve to see an important play like Othello the way we have too.
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382 posts
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Post by stevemar on Jan 16, 2023 10:27:42 GMT
I enjoyed this production a great deal.
I’ve only seen the Donmar production and previous NT (Adrian Lester/Rory Kinnear) ones before. Whilst the thriller like way (sudden lighting cues, noise and projections) and the System were slightly overdone, there was a confidence to the direction which ramped up the anxiety of what was about to happen.
I felt Paul Hilton was directed to perform in a slightly pantomime way, but that was consistent with performing to the audience and the System following this lead, and he owned his character. Giles Terrara speaks beautifully, but there was a lack of connection (to emphasise his isolation) but also I felt throughout from Desdemona, which undermined the final tragedy.
I’ve never seen Rodrigo played by Jack Bardoe in an almost pantomime/fool way - for some reason I thought of him as an early stage Frankenstein’s monster (like Frankenstein at the NT). Cassio very well played.
Rosy McEwen from a quietish start and particularly Tanya Franks as Emelia really brought the play to a crescendo focussing on the misogyny of society. In fact the only relationship I really believed in was Iago/Emelia mainly due to the shivering and cowering way Emilia acted, both pulling towards and away from Iago.
4 stars.
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382 posts
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Post by stevemar on Jan 18, 2023 10:11:17 GMT
I meant to post this also with my comments: at the end of the play there are various noise effects, but I couldn’t make them out. Does anyone know what they are?
Sounded like recordings of protests (maybe Black Lives Matter or others), with a sort of beat (thought it might go into rap).
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