“What’s Iago’s motivation?” is possibly one of theatre’s great unanswered questions – and one that critics have loved chewing over for the past 400 years.
But is that the most relevant question posed by the play in this day and age?
If you don’t know the premise, here’s a brief recap – Othello (Kalungi Ssebandeke) is a well-regarded general employed by the Venetian state, who’s recently married Desdemona (Molly Chesworth), daughter of a senator. He’s secretly opposed by his ensign Iago (Sophie Stone), who’s irked that Othello recently promoted Cassio (Yazdan Qafouri) over her, and decides to enact her revenge while maintaining a friendly and supportive veneer.
And, like all good Shakespeare plays, an incredibly elaborate scheme is rolled out in which Iago steadily persuades Othello that his wife is committing infidelity with Cassio despite the wholesale absence of anything even vaguely resembling convincing proof.
Ridiculous, right? No-one would topple their marriage and murder their partner in cold blood over that?
Yet sadly such stories are all too common in today’s news. The Watermill’s production stands out from the crowd by delving more deeply into the psychology of such a crime, helping to contextualise (yet never to justify or excuse) jealousy’s slide into domestic abuse and homicide.
Othello’s rapid acceptance of Iago’s allegations becomes far more believable through Ssebandeke’s nuanced portrayal of the titular character. Villains often make for more interesting characters than noble and righteous heroes, and past productions have often made Othello suffer this fate when he shares a stage with Iago, but Ssebandeke plays the character with a showy, high energy – punctuating his lines with fist-pumps and pull-ups, veering between quiet intensity and shouty showiness. It’s brilliant – this is every insecure man overcompensating in front of people who he fears, deep down, are looking down on him.
Alongside him, Stone’s portrayal of Iago is a masterclass in subtly. Rather than playing the legendary character as an over-the-top villain, she grounds the role in reality – this is the person we all know, a smart and intelligent hard worker who’s been consistently passed-over for the better jobs because their face doesn’t quite fit.
Her facial reactions to her fellow soldiers’ aloof behaviour are, in themselves, enough to bring a clear motivation to the character, making this possibly one of the greatest interpretations of the role that I’ve ever seen. Horrible though her actions may be, you can certainly understand them, even if you don’t agree with them.
If you’ve given Shakespeare a miss in the past due to the notoriously lengthy and convoluted plots, or if you think you’ve seen everything “Othello” has to offer, I’d urge you to give this production a try.
The script is enlivened by the injection of modern songs which do a fantastic job of making the story more relatable and understandable (in particular Othello’s rendition of Labrinth’s “Jealous”); the set transitions effortlessly from warzones, to bedrooms, to thumping nightclubs; and some light relief is brought in courtesy of unexpected moments of comedy, which I won’t spoil for you.
Delving into one of the play’s perhaps less-explored themes of jealousy and abuse, a fantastically talented cast and creative team deserve a standing ovation for this brilliant production, adapted by Karla Marie Sweet and directed by Paul Hart and Anjali Mehra. “Othello” runs from the 16th September – 15th October, with tickets available from https://www.watermill.org.uk/
