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by William Shakespeare, directed by Michael Attenborough

Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre

February 7-March 11, 2000

The rave reviews we had read of the RSC production of OTHELLO at the Barbican Theatre made it the raison d’être of the trip. It proved to be an overwhelming experience.  Not only was this the best production of the play we had ever seen, it was also one of the best productions of a Shakespearean tragedy we had ever seen.  The production was so well thought through, so clearly directed by Michael Attenborough and so well acted that innumerable lines, characters and actions that we had tended to ignore or gloss over now had meaning and each contributed to the cumulative effect of the play.  The play had such power and forward momentum that we felt physically drained by the end.

As people who see over 90 shows a year, this very seldom happens.  OTHELLO had previously never been one of my favourite tragedies, but this production by making sense of Othello’s and Iago’s actions and placing them in a larger context than usual showed us why this is a great tragedy.  In North American productions, Iago’s hatred is almost exclusively racial.  Attenborough, however, looked at what the text actually says and saw that Iago’s hatred has far greater scope.  He is jealous of anyone who is better looking, has more money or more power that he does, which includes not just Othello but also Rodrigo and Cassio.  Thus the various subplots finally made sense. 

Ray Fearon as Othello and Richard McCabe as Iago were superb, but so was everyone even in the most minor roles.  Thus, with a director who clearly understood every line in the play and with a cast who could communicate this understanding, the force of the piece, once begun, never let up.  Seeing this production alone was worth the trip to London.

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in the London Theatre Guide 2000-02-25.

Photo: Richard McCabe and Ray Fearon. ©2000 Geraint Lewis.