The time that the Shakespeare Society demands its audience to invest in this play is shorter than usual. Last year’s production of “Cymbeline,” for instance, ran closer to three hours, which is about how long most productions of “Othello” take. This production clocks in at under two hours. Watters made extensive cuts to the play in an effort to make the show more of an ensemble piece and to appeal to Wellesley students who might be intimidated at the prospect of sitting through three hours of Shakespeare. “I don’t want people to feel bored or lost,” Watters explained. Slashing a play by nearly a third is hard under the best of circumstances; it’s perhaps particularly difficult with “Othello,” which—unlike many of Shakespeare’s other plays— does not feature many side plots. Most of the lines Watters cut were particularly flowery or confusing ones of Iago or Othello. Watters edited masterfully; the play flows smoothly and the plot is easy to follow.
Setting “Othello” in the modern world is another tactic that Watters employed to appeal to a broader audience. She chose an urban setting in particular to emphasize the modernity and make Shakespeare more relatable for the students. The costumes, set and staging all combined to convey the contemporary settings. The military officers became policemen and the women have guns on their hips instead of swords. Bianca ( J u s t i n e Portmann ’12), Cassio’s (Callie Kovacs ’13) ladyfriend, wears short shorts. Marken Shedd ’11 and Hayley Merrill ’11 wear jeans, sneakers and sideways baseball caps when they dance between scenes. The simple set featured an asphalt road with a dotted yellow line painted down the middle of it. Most striking of all is the addition of modern music to the classic play, partly inspired by the popularity of Shakespeare Society’s recent LipSync routines. Dancers grind to the beats of the twentyfirst century and Cassio and his fellow officers party to the melodic stylings of M.I.A.
In some instances, these revisions come across as mere devices to establish the setting and make Shakespeare’s “Othello” more fun and lively (adjectives that are rarely used to describe “Othello”), but some of Watters’ additions and changes serve a higher purpose. Staging the scene in which Cassio becomes drunk (very humorously, despite the dark undertones of the plot) as a modern party, complete with cans of beer, will likely prove effective in relating to and engaging the college audience. Another interesting revision was the addition of modern music and dance as transitions between the scenes. Some of these enhanced the performance by further developing characters and emphasizing the ensemble in the context of the play, yet others seemed removed from and at odds with the play. “Fun” and “Othello” are not as mutually exclusive, but they work together best when connected by a purpose.
The obvious racial tensions in “Othello, the Moor of Venice” may initially seem inappropriate in a modern setting. Many Americans believe that blacks no longer suffer from racism, especially since Barack Obama’s election as president. Watters maintained, however, “[Racism] does have a presence in society today.” She explained that many instances of racism, both in the modern world and the play, involve “people not even realizing that they’re being racist.” This is manifested in the play when the characters refer to Othello (Amalina Dave ’12) as the “valiant Moor.” By simultaneously praising him and identifying his race, they characterize him as the special “other,” thus exercising a subtle kind of racism that still exists today. Far from marginalizing the racist aspects of the play out of a belief that they were irrelevant in a modern setting, Watters and her cast have embraced them, turning a critical eye on society as the best modern adaptations of Shakespearian plays always do. The society is even working with Ethos to further explore the racist aspects in talk back sessions that will be held after both Thursday performances. Although the Society’s performance does not shy away from the question of race, Watters’ cuts, designed to refocus the show on the ensemble, drew some attention away from Othello and instead emphasized the vindictive character of Iago (Leah Hamilton French ’11). While this is not what Watters intended, it is not necessarily a bad result. In fact, it is surprisingly effective. French controls the show as Iago controls the other characters. With this edited script, French’s regular soliloquies almost give the impression that she is a narrator. In these soliloquies, French speaks directly to the audience, powerfully breaking the fourth wall as she picks out and holds eye contact with individual audience members until they look away, feeling vulnerable. She stands uncomfortably close to the audience, pacing on the steps in front of the stage with a disciplined, malevolent energy. These techniques force the audience to fully engage in the show and empathize with the characters. In Iago’s dealings with other characters, French continues to break social taboos about personal space. French pursues the other characters across the stage, forcing them to continually retreat and she repeatedly invades their personal space. When in a group, Iago often stands center stage, coolly surveying the people around him when he thinks he is unobserved. This placement conjures images of a spider sitting in the middle of its web, waiting calmly for victims to fall into its trap. The audience discovers Iago’s venom as the characters do, an impressive feat in such a well-known play. The characters are fooled by Iago’s twofaced obsequiousness. Meanwhile, the audience is already familiar with the quality of Iago’s character but is fooled by French’s appearance. French looks weak—she has fair, delicate features, a short stature and a poor posture, an unassuming air and a weak but perfectly audible voice. Until she is identified as Iago, French hardly seems a likely candidate; she lacks the commanding air exhibited in the other officers, particularly the arrogant Othello, whom Dave played well, though not sympathetically. Though Iago appears weak (many of Iago’s pawns could easily overpower him physically in this rendition), French’s mannerisms cause the audience to feel the unease commonly evoked by sociopaths—even before Iago’s plans are revealed. Othello and Desdemona (Rachel Cherny ’12) fall flat. Unlike Cassio and Roderigo (Mandy Crescitelli ’12), they do not command the audience’s sympathy, and unlike Iago, they are not interesting. As Iago, French lets the audience see the inner workings of his mind, but Dave as Othello maintains a physical and emotional distance from the audience throughout. This aloofness also prevents the audience from being fully invested in Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. Cherny is a tolerable actress, but the effectiveness of her performance relies on the person p l a y i n g o p p o s i t e her. This unfortunate t e n d e n c y occasionally renders her unsympathetic a n d uninteresting, especially in her scenes with Othello, with whom she simply could not connect, though she sparkled in her scenes with Cassio and won the audience’s sympathies in the hands of Iago. While the blandness of two of the three bestknown characters in “Othello”— including the title character—is disappointing, it draws attention to the other characters and reinforces that this version is intended as an ensemble piece rather than as a vehicle for the leads. And the blame cannot be laid entirely at Dave and Cherny’s feet; their characters do not translate well to the modern world. Camila Connolly’s ’13 Emilia will probably be much more appealing to Wellesley women simply because she is a strong female character. Connolly herself is a delight to watch and provides a worthy foil for French’s Iago, a casting choice rendered particularly interesting by their similar complexions and hair colors, but her character remains undeveloped. Her motives are often unclear, and something— perhaps her slight slouch or the contrast between her resistance and Desdemona’s angelic complacency—causes her to come across as lower class. Aside from these quibbles, which do not significantly detract from the show, the acting is very convincing and entertaining across the cast. No one could be accused of not deserving her role. Any objections to Shakespeare Society’s “Othello” are mere quibbles, and the Shakespeare society has not finished the process of revision and refinement just yet. Experimentation necessarily carries an element of risk; the majority of the innovations that Watters and her cast introduce are well worth the few misfires. This “Othello” will entertain and inform Shakespeare virgins and connoisseurs alike.
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