Venue: The Helix, Dublin.
Second Age Theatre Company.
Overview of Othello:
This drama is one of the great tragedy themed plays by William Shakespeare. Othello is a highly esteemed general in the service of Venice. Iago is Othello's ambitious friend. Othello promotes the Michael Cassio to the position of personal lieutenant and Iago is deadly jealous. Iago begins an evil and malicious campaign against the hero. Othello elopes with Desdemona but Iago starts to plot against them. Othello becomes jealous and suspicious of Desdemona. He confides in Iago that he plans to poison Desdemona. Plots and murders ensue and Othello returns to the castle to kill his innocent wife. He eventually smothers her to death.
Emilia tells Othello the truth about the scheming Iago. Othello wounds Iago, then kills himself. Iago kills Emilia.
Staging/Props:
The Staging was probably the highlight of the play for me. All the settings were very realistic, and added to my enjoyment and understanding of the play. For example, in the final scenes, where Othello is killing Desdemona, the stage is converted into the a bedroom excellently, using various props.
Performances:
I was quite disappointed with the portrayal of Iago. From reading the text, Iago has been depicted as a sly and cunning, yet interesting character. However, in my opinion, this was not depicted well enough in the performance. The actor was not engaged with the character of Iago enough.
I was however impressed with the portrayal of Desdemona. The actress portrayed Desdemona as she is portrayed in the text, an honest, loving, noble character.
Evaluation:
I thought the performance was good, but could have been improved upon in some areas. In particular, character portrayal. I don’t think it had a major addition to my understanding to the play, and I don’t think it will help me greatly in answering questions in the exam. It was interesting to see the play performed live, it was certainly more interesting than reading the text in class. I would recommend this performance.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
A Moor and renowned soldier leads the Venetian army to victory against the Turks. During this war, he marries a senator’s daughter, Desdemona. Many hold Othello in high esteem; however, his Ensign, Iago, resents him and plots a scheme to ruin his happiness. He plans to make Othello believe that Desdemona and his Lieutenant, Cassio, have an affair after Desdemona and Othello marry. Furthermore, Iago gets Cassio drunk and then stages a fight to turn Cassio against Othello. Iago, whom Othello believes to be honorable, plants the idea of the affair in Othello’s mind; consequently, Othello fills with jealousy and plans to murder Cassio and Desdemona for their disloyalty. Iago makes Othello believe that Desdemona gives Cassio her handkerchief which Othello gives her as a present at their wedding. He also stages a conversation between Iago and himself which implies that Cassio never cares for Desdemona. These events enrage Othello. Therefore, he asks Iago to kill Cassio while he murders Desdemona. Desdemona never knows of Othello’s thoughts or intentions. She believes that he appears hostile because of matters from the State or because of his disagreement with Cassio. Iago’s plan to murder Cassio fails; however, during this time, Othello strangles Desdemona. Later, Othello learns about Iago’s scheme and lies. Othello commits suicide out of despair and love for Desdemona. In William…
- 1230 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
All the elements in the show went perfectly with the actors, the sets, and the lighting. The whole stage was used and the performers moved around throughout the entire stage. The pace of the production seemed to be right. I thought it might have dragged out a little but picked up in the secound act.…
- 724 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The set was well made and fit the time period quite nicely, but I could not help but feel it could have used a few more props to give the audience a better sense of immersion. It was often hard to tell where the scene was, or if the characters had changed scenes or not. Using more props would also give more distinction between events and places, making the overall scenes more memorable. One of the strongest points in the play was the costumes. They all were extraordinarily well made, and looked authentic. Some of the notable mentions are Prince Pedro’s uniform, the watchmen’s uniforms, and all the costumes in the ball scene. The costumes helped the audience remember which characters are which, and make the play more memorable.…
- 585 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The character's placement throughout the performance was perfect. For instance, when Marisol appeared back on stage there were homeless people evenly spread out. Due to the specific settlement of the homeless, Marisol had nowhere to run; everywhere she turned there was an aggressive person near her. That was actually a bit scary because it triggered this sense of being trapped within me, which is not a nice feeling. Also, the exits and entrances of characters were smooth and connected.…
- 2305 Words
- 10 Pages
Powerful Essays -
My experience for this production wasn’t what I expected. There were less talking and more action involved to express the character’s feeling. There were many ideas that were a good experience in this play, for instance the uses of the colors, the identical movements, and facial…
- 843 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The production of Othello was put on by the Shakespeare Theatre Company, located in Washington, D.C. The setting occurred in Venice at the time of war between Venice and Turkey, later moving into the island of Cyprus. Though the play is originally set in the late sixteenth century this adaption was portrayed in post WWI. The change in the time made it possible for a changes in costume and more modernized battle scenes.…
- 1068 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Overall, I truly enjoyed the play tremendously. I thought that the acting was awesome. Each of the main characters had a very good physicality, and they held their bodies in a way that each of the characters would have done in real life. For example, Sean Fannin's character was shy and unsure of himself, especially when conversing with Tory Parker's character, and he depicted this by the way he frequently touched his hair as well as hunched his shoulders and held his hands close to his chest, which gave his character some reality. Additionally, the acting choices as well as the blocking were well done, the sightless were clear from where I was sitting and the movement throughout the audience was a strong choice (breaking the 4th wall). At one point, Chris Lockhart delivered a line directly at P. Roush it was a strange acting choice, but all around a…
- 531 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
This was the first play or theatre performance that I have attended. I was unsure of what to expect, but I heard great things about this play. Furthermore, the first aspect of this production that caught my attention was the design of the set. The design gave the feeling of a run down urban neighborhood by making the outer parts of the stage look like an old brick building. The building looked like one you would find in a low-income area or projects. The scenery of the play set the stage for what type of production this would be. I especially liked the way they carefully chose not to place just any kind of props on the stage. The dusty floor, old couch, and the mattress for a bed made the apartment look worn and rundown. This play showed some very realistic designs for the time period and life of some low-income individuals struggling to make a living or hustle. This is especially true when Lincoln pointed out that Booth had no running water and he felt that he was in a third world country. I was impressed by how they were able to make the apartment appear so old and the items in it seem battered. I really thought I was peeking into a real bedroom not just a set. Also, the way the set was designed it makes sure that the individual watching the play is focused on the stage and the characters. There is not a point in the play where my eyes left the stage or the actors.…
- 773 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The overall acting in this play was very good and flowed together really nicely. Most of what was happening was believable and the language of the dialogue was realistic. The two characters that I will be focusing on in this critique will be Hester played by Toreena Meeky, and Reverend D. played by Rufus Wood.…
- 680 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
All together though this play was a very powerful play with a lot of deeper intentions that were able to be explored because of the breathing power and use of body postures that showed of way more than what the script had on it. In other word it truly showed the way that the actor amazingly displayed all of the methods that we were taught in class. And it was truly a great learning experience watching how they portrayed the play as a…
- 518 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Overall, this version of the play was executed well. I honestly prefer a movie with humor and a happy ending, so the ending was painful to watch. However, it was necessary. I always prefer reading the book before the movie since it gives you the background and important…
- 364 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Iago is a cruel and evil man who uses ways to ruin Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. Othello appointed Cassio, to be his lieutenant. Iago was mad when he heard about it, he believes that he should be the one for the position since he knows more. This started off with his jealousy of Cassio. When Othello and Desdemona got married without letting anyone knowing, Iago begins to plot his plan. He used Roderigo to help him throughout the process of his plan to bring down Cassio. He then told Othello lies to ruin his own relationship. He also use Bianca as his part of the plan. Iago got people into thinking he was a nice honest guy, but he uses other people's jealousy and gullibleness for his own benefit.…
- 749 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Shakespeare’s play Othello exhibits many modern Freudian psychology theories, specifically through the character of Iago. Iago is a character who shows typical characteristics of a psychopath. Iago’s behaviour and intentions can be explained through modern Freudian psychology, and emphasised through the critical writings of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Fred West, who, respectively, argued Iago’s “motiveless malignity” and Shakespeare’s “profound and accurate portrayal of a psychopath in Iago”. Through this report, I will discuss how Freudian psychology can be used to further understand how Shakespeare’s Iago can be defined as a psychopath.…
- 1152 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout Hollywood history, many screen adaptations of famous books and novels have strayed away from its original. In almost every movie based on a literary work, there are always major differences. Whether it is in the story plot, character, or even its setting, spotting the differences is always easy to find. However, when it comes to Shakespeare the movies are rarely changed. In most movies, they are not only true to the plot, but even true to the dialogue. In perhaps one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies Othello, he tells the story of a great warrior, when convinced by an evil friend, becomes enraged with jealousy, and commits murder. This, in my opinion, is an example of a great tragedy. It has all the elements, a great love story being destroyed, by the main characters own madness. To the point when Othello imagines the affair, he becomes epileptic. In one of Othello’s cinematic renderings, we have come to find that the movie, unlike, others have stayed true to the play. In Oliver Parker’s 1995 film “Othello” he made sure that his movie, maintained the story plot, character plot, and even the characters, from the original play. This movie was even the first to feature a black actor to play a black Othello. However, like every other movie, this one does make a few minor changes to the plot, but all in all is one with the original play.…
- 1277 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
The reason I chose this performance was because it was so very different than I had seen previously. I have attended Hamlet live, and the staging of this particular scene involved quite a bit of movement and the set at this point contained many different levels. I found this version to be extremely different because it has very little movement and the stage is simply flat.…
- 741 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays