Shakespearean sizzler at The Watermill

Ensemble weave live music into a powerful and bold new adaptation of Othello

The Watermill theatre’s ambitious staging of Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, adapted by Karla Marie Sweet, is a bold, vivacious, modern dress production, imaginatively directed by Paul Hart and Anjali Mehra, who also creates some dynamic choreography.

Dominating the stage is Ceci Calf’s impressive set – a large square structure with sliding slatted screens that is rotated by the cast, cleverly creating the various scenes and strikingly lit by Ali Hunter.

This cautionary tale of jealousy, deception, treachery and love is performed by a versatile cast of talented actor/musicians who have a modern playlist including Dream a Little Dream of Me, Killing me Softly and I Only Have Eyes For You, arranged by Nadine Lee.

Kalungi Ssebandeke is outstanding as Othello, portraying the Noble Moor as a powerful, proud and ambitious army officer who has found favour with the Duke of Venice.

He has secretly married Desdemona, seductively played by Molly Chesworth, and their relationship is a passionate and physical one.

In a twist of casting, Iago is played by a woman, which creates an electrifying dimension to the character.

Sophie Stone embraces this role with confidence and swagger, determined to wreak her revenge on Othello for not promoting her to be his second-in-command in favour of Cassio (Yazdan Qafouri).

Iago encourages Cassio to get drunk, ending in a violent fight and he is demoted from his position as lieutenant.

In a cruel, dark malicious act, Iago further plants seeds in Othello’s mind about Desdemona’s unfaithfulness with Cassio, fired by Desdemona’s plea to Othello to give Cassio his job back.

In a frenzied jealousy – based on flimsy evidence surrounding a handkerchief that Othello had given Desdemona, but was planted in Cassio’s bedroom by Iago as proof of her adulterous affair Othello, totally enraged, violently strangles his wife.

It is pitiful to see him become broken and distraught, suffering epileptic fits, as his world falls around him.

When Iago’s wife Emilia (Chioma Uma) informs him that Iago has lied, Othello painfully realises his catastrophic mistake and chillingly takes his own life.

This is a superb fast-paced production that soars.

ROBIN STRAPP

Most Watermill productions now seem to include actor-musicians. In some, this works well; in others not so much. Adding music, singing and dancing can make plays more accessible to younger audiences which is undoubtedly a good thing, and hopefully the large number of school children in the audience on press night will have been inspired by it, but for me it did nothing to enhance Othello.

That aside, however, it was a gripping production, set in today’s world where having Iago as a female married to Emilia and Brabanzia as Desdemona’s mum caused no problems. With stand-out performances from Sophie Stone as Iago and Kalungi Ssebandeke as Othello, the scenes with the two of them were powerful and mesmerising. Also outstanding was Chioma Uma as Emilia, with her outpouring of grief and anger at the death of Desdemona (convincingly played by Molly Chesworth).

As usual in Paul Hart’s Watermill Ensemble productions, there is strong acting from the young, diverse cast, co-directed by Hart and Anjali Mehra.

Ceci Calf’s set places the action in and around a large, utilitarian, rotatable cube, starkly lit by lighting designer Ali Hunter. Rotating the cube allows set changes (minimal furniture: bed, desk) to be set and struck out of sight of the audience. The cube also provides space for Iago and Othello to spar with each other – a physical manifestation of their verbal sparring.

Karia Marie Sweet’s adaptation has produced a play that should appeal to young and old.

PAUL SHAVE

Taut update from the superb Watermill ensemble

Karla Marie Sweet’s adaptation of Othello features a female Iago, references Billie Eilish’s paean to “chest always so puffed” guys and has an astute modern sensibility in its interrogation of gender roles and societal norms.

Sweet’s version is also dramatically taut. Co-directed by Paul Hart and Anjali Mehra, it moves with the pace of a thriller. The Watermill’s intimate stage is occupied by a rotating cube in Ceci Calf’s design, turning to reveal offices of state, nightclubs, boxing rings and bedrooms. Almost cinematic in its staging, the production is driven by a brusque swagger.

Sophie Stone’s Iago is a portrait of female masculinity and unnerving, calculated deviousness. The camaraderie of laddishness is deployed as a foil, and the smallest of physical movements – the furrowing of the brow, the roll of a shoulder – hint at violent undercurrents. In contrast, despite his fleet-footed boxing prowess, Kalungi Ssebandeke’s Othello appears to be constricted by his masculinity, one of simple trust and honesty. Both are excellent.

Emilia (Chioma Uma) is here given prominence and agency denied in Shakespeare’s original; the rest of the ensemble of actor-musicians are not only uniformed but also uniformly great. Their playing serves an important dramatic function as the staging is punctuated throughout by contemporary songs. While occasionally surprising, their use is often very evocative. Time slows down. If the stage occasionally feels claustrophobic in its military grimness, these musical moments expand the drama beyond the scale of the human and the jealousy of soldiers and lovers.

The songs also play a significant role in the staging’s persuasive contemporariness. That Othello contains racial and gendered violence is nothing new. But here, in a world where the presence of female senators and female soldiers is considered unremarkable, it would be easy to assume that it is also a world of equality. This is its modern tragedy; easy assumptions based on appearances can make us blind to the fact that it is still a world enmeshed with misogyny and racism.

GARETH LLŶR EVANS