REVIEW: Othello
MODERN adaptations of Shakespeare may be the norm but it is still with some trepidation that you approach a new version of a much-loved tale.
However with The Synergy Theatre's Othello there was no need to feel nervous.
Transported to the halls of Westminster complete with mobile phones and mp3 players director David Parton was, thankfully, loyal to the original text.
Chris Rochester played a young, vibrant Othello brilliantly, a man very much in love whose fall from grace into the grip of jealousy felt real and desperately sad.
However, it was together with his on-stage wife Desdemona played by Charlotte Tayler where he really shone.
The love and passion between the two young characters was so realistic and obvious, that in the tiny venue of Shelley's Hotel, Lewes, one felt more like a voyeur than an audience member
Tayler's beautifully executed Desdemona managed to convey sweetness and humour which transformed a sometimes bland, simpering character to a loyal and lovable woman.
However, a production of Othello always stands or falls on Iago.
A plotting, scheming power hungry man, so often Iago becomes a characateur, a man so Machiavellian it is laughable.
But with Darren Heather's wonderfully understated performance it is easy to see why Othello is taken in.
Heather's Iago sits comfortably in modern day politics and is more despicable in his cold decisions and control of his wife because of this.
Special mentions also for Gareth Brighton, an utterly believable and likable Cassio, and Pamela Parry, a woman torn between her husband and closest friend.
The 12-strong cast took on a challenge which would test the most seasoned of actors with one of the Bard's most famous tragedies in a space so small the action often spilled into the front row.
They triumphed, however, because of this.
There was no hiding from the audience, every eyebrow raise, fearful look, wry smile, was picked up and celebrated.
Othello runs at Shelley's Hotel, Lewes, until November 22
Tickets, at 8, are available from Jannine Vallett at 01273 479497 or jannine.vallett@thelionhouse.net.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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