Othello at Lantern Theatre Company in Philadelphia, PA

Theater: Lantern Theatre Company
Show Title: Othello
Opened: March 28, 2008
Seen: April 4, 2008
Reviewer: Dawn Cowle
Submitted: April 14, 2008

It can be argued that there is no "right" way to do a Shakespearean play. If there was, we'd see way more men playing the women, and the others running around in tights (not to say that would necessarily be the "right" way, but perhaps more historically accurate). Theatres have been experimenting with the Bards work for years, trying different concepts, gender bending the roles, heck, there have even been productions of Othello where the Moor is played by a white actor- so liberties can be taken, that's for sure. But when doing any of Shakespeare's plays, there are certain things an audience comes to expect, and if those few things aren't in place, it won't matter how wonderful a concept is, how beautiful the costumes are, or how many liberties you take, because some things will just be a bit off. And in the Lantern's production of Othello, playing now until May 4th, liberties are definitely taken.

You know the story; perhaps you've even studied it in your high school or college English class. Othello the Moor is a highly respected general in the service of Venice. Othello promotes Cassio to the position of personal lieutenant, and Iago becomes extremely jealous because he wanted the promotion. He then begins an evil and malicious campaign as his own sick form of revenge. Othello elopes with Desdemona and Iago plants the seeds in Othello's head that his new wife has been unfaithful. Othello becomes jealous and suspicious of Desdemona and tells Iago he plans to poison her, to which Iago suggests strangling as a more powerful method. Chaos, lies, and murders ensue, and Othello eventually confronts Desdemona, and then strangles her. Emelia, Iago's wife, and Desdemona's lady-in-waiting finds Desdemona's body, confronts Othello about the murder, then informs him of Iago's scheming ways. Iago kills Emilia, Othello kills Iago, then eventually himself. You know, just another classic Bard tragedy…

When seeing Othello, there is one thing the audience definitely comes to expect: that Desdemona and Othello are deeply in love (or the very least- deep in lust). If that expectation isn't met, all of Iago's conniving and deceitful ways just doesn't have as big of a pay-off, making it really hard to give into the suspension of disbelief that is theatre. Sadly, I didn't see that in the Lantern's production. Now, that isn't to say that Frank X (Othello) and Mary McCool (Desdemona) don't do a wonderful job, but the chemistry between their characters seemed more along the line of friends than lovers. Frank X makes a solid Othello. Some might say he's too old for the part, but that didn't bother me. He's a strong actor, playing a strongly written role, what more do you need? I did feel his "transformation" that occurs after Iago starts planting the idea of adultery in his head happened a bit to fast, but I'm not sure if that was the cuts in the script, the lack of lighting change, or what… so I won't harp on that too much. Mary McCool gives us a different kind of Desdemona. She seemed to be channeling the naiveté and youth of Juliet, and in turn, lost the strength of the character. If she hasn't done it yet, I would love to see her play Juliet- she'd be phenomenal.

Another liberty Charles McMahon took was casting Sarah Sanford as Emilia. She's a younger, and a lot thinner than most Emilias I've seen. But then again she's also the most interesting, so this liberty definitely paid off. Her interpretation of the character is spot on, and she steals the last scene from the moment she confronts Othello about Desdemona's death, all the way up to her own. Pete Pryor as Iago, was just as fabulous as you'd expect. After winning a Barrymore for his performance as Richard III a few years ago, it was a smart move for McMahon to cast him as another one of the Bards greatest villains. His Iago has that quiet kind of evil, the kind you see in movies with serial killers who seem so nice, but then do horrible things with no regret, and man, is it frightening.

The remaining members of the ensemble including Brian McCann, Seth Reighgott, and Luigi Sottile all give solid performances despite McMahon's uneven direction. And though I loved Anthony Lawton as Rodrigo, in reality he's a few years too old for the part. And even donning leather pants and gold chains for the entire first act won't prevent you from snickering every time someone refers to him as "young Rodrigo," when clearly that's not the case. On the whole, the Lantern's production is worth seeing, if anything, to see the stellar performances by Pryor and Sanford. I think they're performances are ones people will be talking about for years, and hey, don't you want to be part of that conversation?