Review: OTHELLO at Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival

The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company concludes it's 22nd season with the story of William Shakespeare's "Othello". A play of love, loss, isolation, race relations, and jealousy (to name a few).

It is traditionally set in 16th-century Venice and Cyprus. Othello the Moor (lavishy and emotionally played by Matt Orduna), a noble black general in the Venetian army, has secretly married a beautiful white woman called Desdemona (played by the intense Rachel Seiferth), the daughter of a prominent senator, Brabantio (played by chameleon-like Jason D. Rennie). When he finds out of the marriage, he is outraged, and promptly disowns her.

Othello's ensign, Iago (played blatantly evil by Jason McBeth), harbors a secret jealousy and resentment towards the Moor, partly because another soldier, lieutenant Cassio (the evenly consistent Connor Sullivan), has been promoted ahead of him, and also because he suspects that Cassio has had an affair with Othello's wife. Intent on revenge, Iago hatches a devious plan to plant suspicions in Othello's mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with Cassio. He orchestrates a street fight (choreographed by Brett Elliott and Jason D. Rennie), for which Cassio is wrongly blamed, and is then dismissed from his post by Othello. Desdemona takes up Cassio's case with her husband, which only further inflames his suspicions that the pair are lovers.

In the meantime, Iago manages to procure a treasured handkerchief from Desdemona that was given to her by Othello. He plants it on Cassio so that Othello sees it, then concludes that it is proof of their affair. Maddened by jealousy, he orders Iago to murder Cassio, and then Othello strangles Desdemona. Immediately afterwards her innocence is revealed, and Iago's treachery exposed. In a fit of grief and remorse Othello kills himself. Iago is taken into custody by the Venetian authorities.

There are multiple subplots such as the relationship between Iago and his wife, Emilia (acted with truth and strength by Angela Gulner), her devoted relationship and friendship with Desdemona, the business/sexual relationship between Cassio and Bianca, a courtesan (played by Samantha Eggers), and many more.

Kingsmen consistently produces quality productions with emphasis on the quality of their actors as well as their designers (and this is still the case with this production), however the trap with any production of "Othello" is keeping the stories clear and specific without losing the concept of the piece. And herein lies the issue with this production. There is no concept. Hence no through-line and no overall arch.

Mind you, individually, the performances are powerful and solid, specifically with Orduna, Gulner, and Sullivan. Design is the same. Individually they are all what an audience could ask for, but put them together and they don't seem to cohesively vibe as in previous Kingsmen productions. There just seems to be a lot of every element (great though they may be) and each one is trying to compete with the other.

It's as if the director of this piece has made it a point to all-but shout from the rooftops that this is not a concept piece and the locations and design elements are that of no-specific world or time. But maybe...just maybe...some specifications on his end would have unified the production so that all elements would co-exist and live harmoniously together rather than, as in some instances (such as the underscoring and some of the scenes, as well as some of the random costume choices for some of the principles and soldiers), would have made this production what makes other productions of Othello "...one of the most beautifully painful stories in Shakespeare's canon...".

Aside from the above suggestion, this production of "Othello" is well worth the price of admission and allow me to remind all that Kingsmen Shakespeare Company prides itself for never charging admission to anyone 17 and under.

"Othello" continues through August 5th and plays Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. General admission is free for those under 18, $15 for students with ID, $20 for seniors 65 and older, and $25 for everyone else. Reserved lawn boxes have room for six and are $90 to $110. Individual tickets are available online at kingsmenshakespeare.org for the first time along with lawn boxes. Individual tickets are available at the door. For more information, call 805-493-3452.

Photo Credit: Brian Stethem (Matt Orduna as Othello and Rachel Seiferth as Desdemona)

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