Some brief thoughts on Othello (2019) ft. Michael Blake

It is perhaps not wise to write so soon after watching the play, especially when I have not seen any other production and have nothing to compare it to, except the text itself. But I’ll jot down some thoughts anyway. 

This is a production at Stratford Festival, Canada, directed by Nigel Shawn Williams and produced for film by Barry Avrich, with Michael Blake in the title role, Laura Condlln as Emilia, Amelia Sargisson as Desdemona, Gordon S. Miller as Iago, and Johnathan Sousa as Cassio. 

Shakespeare’s Othello is a great play, but it’s a difficult play, because of the way the 2 roles of Othello and Iago may be approached and played. The Oxford edition of Othello discusses at length the different productions over the years and it seems that the handling of Iago is even more difficult than that of Othello because one, how does an actor approach the role and his motivation, and two, what do they do so Othello doesn’t become diminished in comparison and it doesn’t become a play about Iago. 

The problem with this production, I think, is Iago. Iago in my head is the quiet, soft-spoken type, the type who doesn’t express much emotion on his face, the type who appears honest and trustworthy but underneath that façade is a cold, vicious sociopath driven by inexplicable hatred and resentment. Iago in my head makes insinuations whilst pretending to be unsure or reluctant—he drops an idea here, an image there, and slowly poisons Othello’s sight without appearing to talk much. Gordon S. Miller’s Iago is way too loud, too eager and pushy, and not at all likable or subtle—it’s hard to believe why anyone would see him as reliable. The image of honest Iago is not credible from the start, when he’s manipulating Roderigo, and it becomes a lot worse in the scenes where he talks to Othello about Desdemona’s infidelity—it’s impossible to understand why Othello would fall for these insinuations. 

This affects the play as a whole even though I find Michael Blake good as Othello, and Farhang Ghajar is good as Roderigo. 

Laura Condlln plays Emilia in a way that is different from how I imagined her from the text—partly because this production has the actors dressed in modern clothes and turns Emilia into a soldier protecting Desdemona, and partly because she plays Emilia as pained and badly treated by her husband from the start. She acts very well, overshadowing Amelia Sargisson as Desdemona (and also Iago), and it is an interesting approach, but the approach also changes the meaning of the ending—her rage, her outburst in the final scene seems less about love for Desdemona than about her pain and anger at the misogyny of the men, especially her husband. In a sense, it feels like it’s less about Desdemona than about herself. 

Another thing is the scene where Desdemona asks Iago to praise her and he makes some generalisations about women—Gordon S. Miller’s Iago comes across as a complete dick and Laura Condlln’s Emilia is visibly upset but nobody notices. We all know that Iago in Shakespeare’s play is a misogynist, who sees all women as wanton and deceitful, but I think the scene should be done in such a way that Iago appears to be half-joking and it all seems silly and harmless, rather than something bitter and obviously sexist. Iago in this production doesn’t look at all witty or likable—why would anyone trust him? And why did Emilia ever fall for him? 

The best parts of the play, therefore, are when Gordon S. Miller isn’t on stage. Michael Blake, I think, is pretty good as Othello—I like that he seems very confident and assured and comfortable with himself at the beginning of the play, in spite of other people, but slowly it all crumbles and by the end he knows he’s damned. He’s especially good in the bit where he, full of rage, threatens Iago’s life and asks for proof, and later, when he collapses and has an epileptic fit on the ground. The scene of him killing Desdemona is unbearable to watch—utterly awful, and heartbreaking.

I should watch some other productions to compare. 

Have you seen this one? What do you think?