OTHELLO. Adapted and Directed by Lara Foot. Cast: Atandwa Kani, Albert Pretorius, Carla Smith, Faniswa Yisa, Carlo Daniels and more. At The Baxter Pam Golding Theatre.
BEVERLEY BROMMERT reviews
All too often, adaptations of Shakespearean drama can be justifiably dismissed as whimsical at best, or at worst as gratuitously self-indulgent. Neither response is deserved in the case of this sensitive reworking of Othello by Lara Foot: far from diminishing the Moor’s tragedy, it enriches it with a fresh and multi-layered perspective.
This is most effective in the presentation of the eponymous character, whose vulnerability as a conflicted black man in a white world is ripe for self-serving manipulation by a callous villain such as Iago.
His tragic stature is thereby intensified, while the updated context of this play (German-colonised South West Africa at the end of the 19th century) invites reflection on the inhumanity of this invasive process. It also debunks the racist cliché of black violence traditionally attendant on Othello’s murder of his white wife, with a sharply visual image of cosmic fatality hovering above the protagonists until their course is run.
Even if this additional stimulating freight was not enough to engross the audience, the collective excellence of cast, direction, staging and soundscape would do so.
Memorable, moving, thought-provoking
Atandwa Kani’s Othello has all the requisite stage presence and charisma to make this complex persona sympathetic and plausible, able to hold his own against the dominant Iago.
The latter, played with magisterial authority by Albert Pretorius, is a mesmerising specimen of duplicity, to confirm the belief that this unsympathetic role is the choicest of the play. Pretorius attacks it with gusto.
Completing the trio of leads is Carla Smith, who brings her own brand of understated but poignant appeal to the part of Desdemona.
As usual, director Lara Foot has proved astute in her casting, extending to the several cameo roles in the tragedy: whether comical or sinister, engaging or repellent, each player makes secondary personae authentic.
As for the set and costumes (Gerhard Marx), lighting (Patrick Curtis) and accompanying music (Kyle Shepherd), their collaborative enhancement of the production underpins the performers’ high calibre.
This is theatre at its most memorable, moving and thought-provoking.
What: Othello
Where and when: Baxter from 6 April to 4 May 2024
Tickets: Webtickets
WS
