Frenzied, mesmerizing and full-on Frantic Assembly takes the tale of the Moor of Venice, Shakespeare’s Othello on tour.
Jealously and suspicion permeate as Othello’s love affair with the beautiful and virtuous Desdemona creates havoc, leading to death and destruction. Scott Graham and Steven Hoggart of Frantic Assembly have stripped the play to its bare bones. It is a decidedly modern and refreshing take on a classic, made for a contemporary audience, with more fake blood than you can shake a stick at, and it is captivating. However, be warned – it is not for the Shakespearean purists who like to see the Bard’s work in its original form!
Catapulted forward to the ganglands of a northern English working class pub in the 21st Century, amongst pool table, broken glass bottles and a fruit machine Mark Ebulue swaggers and postures in jeans and bomber jacket with baseball bat in hand as Othello, the leader of the gang. Desdemona portrayed by Kirsty Oswald is a Chav in a crop top with belly button on show and a Yorkshire accent, far removed from the Venetian beauty in Shakespeare’s original. Instead locked in a putrid green graffitied ladies toilet she discusses with Emila (Leila Crerar) the nature of love. Imagine a theatrical version of the cult TV series Shameless with a Shakespearean script!
The frantic, high-energy, aggressive choreography keeps the Othello pulsating forward at breathtaking speed, however, at some points this hinders the play. The thumping beat of the music drowns out some of the script and some of the subtleties are lost. However, Steven Miller steals the show with his dark, brooding and poisonously deceitful performance of the Machiavellian Iago, particularly in his monologues to the audience.
Violent and vulgar, amongst the villainy male testosterone pervades keeping the audience on the edge of their seat waiting for the next damaging interlude to be played out. Within this ruinous setting Shakespeare’s play is surprisingly not devoured by the extreme physicality, grit and gore, its central themes and tensions come through, and instead it thrives for a modern audience. Frantic Assembly have produced a powerful, gripping production with searing intensity which makes them one of the most exciting companies to watch! ★★★★☆ Philip Smith 22/10/14
