Othello (1990), ft. Ian McKellen

This is a Royal Shakespeare Company production, directed by Trevor Nunn, who also directed the Macbeth production with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench. The cast are Willard White as Othello, Ian McKellen as Iago, Imogen Stubbs as Desdemona, Zoë Wanamaker as Emilia, and so on. 

The success of the production lies chiefly in Ian McKellen’s performance as Iago. If we compare this one and the Stratford Festival (Canada) production that I saw 2 months ago, Gordon S. Miller plays Iago as jovial, outgoing and ends up appearing too loud, too pushy, not at all subtle, whereas Ian McKellen’s approach comes closer to my idea of the villain: he is quiet, soft-spoken, adopting a self-effacing persona; in front of others, he’s always cleaning up, fixing clothes for people, looking sympathetic and attentive and trustworthy; alone, his face darkens, he’s consumed with an immense and inexplicable hatred for Othello.

Let’s contrast 2 scenes. The first scene is when Desdemona asks Iago how he would praise her and he throws back some sexist jokes—Ian McKellen’s Iago is funny, he comes across as an entertainer and everyone laughs and gets away with it as a harmless joke; Gordon S. Miller’s Iago, on the other hand, has no charm that he comes across as hateful and misogynistic, especially when Laura Condlln as Emilia looks visibly upset, so it’s hard to see how others see him as likable or trustworthy. 

The other scene is when Iago asks about Desdemona and Cassio and starts poisoning Othello’s mind—Gordon S. Miller’s Iago is too loud, too pushy and aggressive in the way he approaches the subject and suggests the ideas to Othello; Ian McKellen’s Iago, in contrast, is to me more like Iago in Shakespeare’s text. Shakespeare’s psychological insight and power of characterisation can be seen here: Iago plays Othello by starting some insinuations then pretending to hesitate, hinting something then withholding it and making him curious, dropping an idea here and an image there without appearing pushy, attacking Othello’s weakest points whilst pretending to care about his marriage… Shakespeare’s Iago is subtle and manipulative, and so is Ian McKellen’s portrayal, unlike Gordon S. Miller’s.

I have regarded Ian McKellen as the perfect Macbeth, now I see him as the ultimate Iago.

Everyone else in the production is good and well-cast. Cassio can be approached in different ways, Sean Baker plays him as a ladies’ man who does like Desdemona, and it works. Roderigo is played by Michael Grandage, and whilst I’m not quite sure about the scene of him hitting and kicking on the floor, he does look pathetic and gullible. Zoë Wanamaker is good as Emilia, especially in the final scene. And I think Imogen Stubbs plays Desdemona perfectly—she is naïve and childlike, especially in the scene where Othello is busy with work and she keeps pestering him about when Cassio may come for a meal, like a child used to getting things her way and not understanding how the world works. This childlikeness is essential to Desdemona, I didn’t really see it in Amelia Sargisson’s performance in the Stratford Festival production.

To my surprise, however, the killing scene works better in the Stratford Festival production. 

Let’s look at Shakespeare’s text, the moment right before the murder: 

“DESDEMONA Alas, he is betrayed, and I undone!

OTHELLO Out, strumpet! Weep’st thou for him to my face? 

DESDEMONA O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not! 

OTHELLO Down, strumpet! 

DESDEMONA Kill me tomorrow; let me live tonight! 

OTHELLO Nay, if you strive—

DESDEMONA But half an hour! 

OTHELLO Being done, there is no pause. 

DESDEMONA But while I say one prayer! 

OTHELLO It is too late. 

Smothers her.” 

(Act 5 scene 2) 

This is an unbearable scene and there cannot be a pause or lingering of any kind—as Desdemona is struggling and begging, the scene becomes more and more intense and when it gets to the peak, he smothers her. Then Emilia knocks on the door and that knocks Othello out of the heat of the moment and he realises what he has done. 

In Trevor Nunn’s production, Desdemona runs around and tries to get away from Othello, which works perfectly fine, but the mistake is that she is on the floor begging for life and the intensity gets to the peak there, but she goes quiet, as though stunned, when he gives out his hand and she takes it, and there’s a gap between “But while I say one prayer!” and “It is too late”—the timing is wrong, and as Othello kills Desdemona afterwards, the emotion is lost, the impact is all gone. 

The peak of the play is in the final scene, after the killing: Emilia is the one element Iago hasn’t anticipated in his scheme. Whereas Desdemona is naïve and sees everyone in the best light, Iago sees everyone in the worst light—he is not the great psychologist many people say he is, he sees everyone’s weaknesses but no more, he doesn’t expect Othello’s strong reaction and doesn’t anticipate Emilia’s passion and courage. The scene works well in the production. I think it slightly drags on in the final bit, but Ian McKellen’s face, when Iago says to Othello “Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.”, is chilling. 

Williard White is quite good as Othello, especially his voice, probably because he’s an opera singer. I think he is overshadowed by Ian McKellen, however, and Trevor Nunn also seems to focus more on Iago than Othello—Ian McKellen’s name comes first on the cover, there are more close-ups of him, and the production ends on his face, not Othello’s. 

Overall, it’s an excellent production, especially Ian McKellen.