Before a "thee" and "thou" was even spoken, Daniel Craig and David
Oyelowo turned "Othello" into a sold-out hit at New York Theatre
Workshop.
The good news is that the starry pairing is just as potent onstage as
it is on the page of Shakespeare's tragedy of jealousy run amok. The two
movie stars ably talk the talk.
Oyelowo, a British-Nigerian actor known for his role as Martin Luther
King in "Selma," captures Othello's sweetness and rage and brings a
robust eloquence the manipulated Moor, a loving husband who's shaken and
stirred by the green-eyed monster to murder his wife.
Craig, famous for his spy capers as the Martini-loving James Bond,
buries any trace of 007 glamour under a ball cap and t-shirts in this
contemporary staging. He imbues Iago with a persuasive cockiness and a
mischievous muscularity. Finn Wittrock and Rachel Brosnahan lend fine
support as Cassio and Desdemonia, who are both used as pawns by Iago.
At times, however, the three-plus-hour production directed by "Fun
Home" Tony winner Sam Gold doesn't do the actors favors. The setting is a
nonspecific barracks, with a couple rows of mattresses on the floor.
The audience surrounds the action on three sides. At times actors speak
for extended stretches in complete darkness and at other times lit only
by headlamps or a dim bulb.
Maybe it's a comment on themes of darkness and light resounding in the
play, or a response to the fact that the play tends to overstate itself.
Either way, the concept comes off as gimmicky, not illuminating.
"Othello," through Jan. 18 at New York Theatre Workshop (79 E. Fourth St. between Bowery and Second Ave.). For info, visit www.nytw.org.
By Joe Dziemianowicz
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