Director Jessica Kubzansky, like all good directors, puts her own
imprimatur on this production of Othello by A Noise Within Theatre in
Pasadena, California. It is a modern dress staging and the officers and
soldiers may be ostensibly Venetian, but we see nothing but men and women of
the U.S. Army.
She has made some rational gender changes in keeping with the modern
setting of the tragedy. Desdemona’s father Brabantio becomes her mother Senator
Brabantia (Bonita Friedericy), the Duke of Venice is a woman (Sally Hughes) and
Iago’s wife Emilia (Tania Verafield) is an officer. Sensible changes.
She adds an opening scene where Othello (Wayne T Carr) pins officer’s
stripes on Cassio (Brian Henderson) to the obvious displeasure of Iago (Michael
Manuel). The impeccably dressed officers salute smartly and we notice Othello’s
bemedaled chest.
Angela Gulner and Wayne T. Carr, Photo: Craig Schwartz
With the protagonists being American, the emotional wavelength of the
play is that of American officers and gentlemen. Othello may be black and there
may be racism in the forces, but he is very much American and cannot be
distinguished as a Moor, a foreigner, among the Venetians. This inevitably
takes away something from the almost mythical Moor general who has fought
strange battles in strange lands that Desdemona finds so fascinating during
their meetings that led to falling in love.
Iago is a psychopath who plots revenge on Othello for being passed over
for promotion but he shows no relish in his evil. In the opening scene Iago
speaks directly to the audience and shows some flamboyance but the rest of his
performance is more restrained. He and Emilia get along during most of the play.
After all she is an officer and perhaps unlikely to be an abused wife.
Brabantia is racist to the core and her disapproval of Othello is based
on her bigotry alone and not on his being an exotic foreigner as well who
turned her daughter’s head with some type of black magic. She alleges it but it
sounds hollow when directed against an American officer and a gentleman.
Angela Gulner’s Desdemona is a smart, modern woman who does not bother
to take great care of her hair. She may be coquettish at times but it does not
become her and she is no “delicate creature.” This changes the dynamics of
Shakespeare’s play but we accept it in a modern view of the play.
Jeremy Robb’s Roderigo is a Venetian fool who is infatuated with
Desdemona and decides to follow the troops to Cyprus in the hope of getting
her. He appears with a large “Just Married” sign which he obviously pinched from
the wedding of Othello and Desdemona. The wedding was done in secret, of course,
but seeing Roderigo carrying it over his head expresses his character perfectly.
Robb makes a perfect fool who is used by Iago and spends his money in hopeless wooing.
Most of Kubzansky’s changes are defensible in line with her take on the
play. The problem arises in the emotional depths that must be reached by
Othello when he loses his demeanor as a gentleman and becomes ugly and cruel in
his fits of jealousy. Carr does a good job in the role but he does not reach
the depths that we demand of Othello.
Tania Verafield, Angela Gulner and Michael Manual. Photo: Craig Schwartz
Part of the problem is the lack of poetry in the actors including Carr
and Gulner. When he intones “It is the cause” there should be a sonority and
resonance that is carried by his voice and the poetry. In the final scene Othello’s
last words contain similar sonority when he says “I took by the throat the circumcised
dog/ And smote him, thus.” On the word “thus” he stabs himself. In this
production Kubzansky cuts out “thus” and the line ends on the word “him”. The
phrase loses its cadence even if the director devises a truly shocking way for Othello
to end his life. He grabs a pistol and shoots himself in the mouth.
The production is done on a bare stage with minimal props. The stage
floor is red and there is generous use of the aisles of the 320-seat theatre.
Frederica Nascimento is the Scenic Designer.
In the end this is a well-thought out and praiseworthy if idiosyncratic
approach to the play with some parts of it not fitting well. I found it fascinating
and enjoyed the performance.
_________
Othello by William Shakespeare runs until April 28, 2019 at A Noise Within Theatre, 3352 E.
Foothill Blvd. Pasadena, California www.anoisewithin.org/
James Karas is the Senior Editor
– Culture of The Greek Press
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