OTHELLO (Sofa Shakespeare)*****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri--_c4YTEw

Available until: Unknown

Sofa Shakespeare is a fun idea, but their productions are always well put together and of a very high standard. This production of Othello features only actors from the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) community.

I support the idea of it completely and I knew it would be a great way of showing how many talented actors there are in the BIPOC community, but I did wonder if the story would still make sense, considering that race is an important theme in Othello and that Othello is seen as being different from the others - though I have seen an Iago, Emilia and Cassio who are BIPOC and possibly others too and it always worked.

It works in this production too. There is racist language in Othello, which is horrible, but if you think of any kind of bullying and discrimination, it often isn’t based directly on appearance. People take against someone for another reason and find any way of belittling them they can and this often includes aspects of their appearance. This can happen even if the insult could technically also be applied to themselves. I think this is at least part of the reason the racism doesn’t seem odd in this production of Othello.

Sofa Shakespeare actors are known for using pets, toys, condiments and anything else they can find in order to stage their section of text. This happens significantly less in Othello. I’m not sure if this is a coincidence or whether the actors wanted to celebrate their place in the BIPOC community by appearing on camera themselves, but there is no right or wrong way of staging a scene in Sofa Shakespeare. (Unless you film it in portrait instead of landscape, of course. That’s wrong!)

There might be fewer ‘fun’ sequences, but there are a lot of incredible actors. Fans of The Show Must Go Online might recognise Melanie Lam and Tiffany Abercrombie as very different but equally powerful Iagos. Ally Poole is a moving Desdemona, a fulsome Iago and an angry Roderigo. Lisa Hill-Corley is incredible as Emilia and is well-supported by Brigitte the Shakespeare Dog as Othello and Ruthie the American Girl Doll, who doesn’t move a muscle as Desdemona. Eugenia Low uses filters cleverly to enhance a stunning performance as many characters including a cold, cruel Iago and another brilliant Emilia.

But those are just a few of many great performances. Roderigo and Iago set the scene perfectly in a brilliant opening. Another actor plays not just the human characters but a horse which is mentioned. There’s a wonderfully-acted Roderigo who uses a foreign language; a Othello, Cassio and Brabantio who use sign language; a First Senator who turns his speech into a really interesting presentation; a gleeful Iago whom I actually almost like; a great scene where Iago gets Cassio drunk; a rather pathetic Cassio lamenting in the bathroom; a ‘green-eyed monster’ speech spoken with stillness but heavy with meaning; a striking silent film sequence between Othello and Iago; some beautiful, touching Desdemonas who aren’t all played by women; a Desdemona who lies in bed as Othello speaks menacingly off-camera. And these are only a few of the many wonderful scenes.

There’s also a very interesting scene involving a pack of cards, perhaps representing the way that Iago plays his cards right in order to get what he wants.. In another, Iago appears on a screen to speak to another very good Othello. There’s a great scene with Iago as a cat (we all know cats are really in charge), Cassio a sock puppet (who has clearly had his strings pulled by Iago) and Othello is a handkerchief (as that’s all he can think about). There are also some beautiful drawings of Iago, Desdemona and Emilia, arranged in a triangular prism and turned so the picture of the character who is speaking is facing the camera.

There are also a number of very talented child actors, including an adorable Cassio who takes on a challenging scene and does really well. Another very good young actor takes on the role of Clown and is joined by other excellent young actors.

And while there might not be so many fun scenes, there are still some very enjoyable moments. Featured pets include a dog Rodrigo who honestly doesn’t seem bothered about what Brabantio is saying, and smiles as he reveals Othello and Desdemona are married. There’s also a canine Iago who can’t keep still when he’s so angry with Roderigo but then sits down when he’s feeling calmer.

There are also a lot of lovely toys – lions, bears, dogs, rabbits, elephants, hippos, frogs, foxes, unicorns, tigers some ‘speaking’ their lines and others with their lines appearing as subtitles. Unusually, I think there’s only one duck, appearing with two other animals I’m sure you’ll recognise. At one point, Iago appears as a shark, which is only appropriate.

There are also some talking plants, including a flower which plays the role of Desdemona. There are some painted cats who are joined by a vegetable; a cork, a couple of balloon men and some Lego.

The music is also great: there are some great singing Desdemonas (including one who sings in a scene that usually has no singing but works brilliantly) and some beautiful background music.

It’s fun and it’s original, but more than that: it’s a great production of Othello with more actors than I can count who are having fun and also working hard to produce a good scene. And a great celebration of BIPOC talent.

I can’t wait to see what Sofa Shakespeare do with The Comedy of Errors, their next project (though we’ll probably be watching some of their past productions before then). I have a feeling anything could happen.