NT’s Othello is a bold and powerful production – review
It’s an impressive feat for a play to be largely traditional and yet a bold re-interpretation but Clint Dyer’s staging of Shakespeare’s Othello at the National Theatre manages to achieve both.
Opening against a backdrop of previous production posters for the play, it subsequently embarks on a surprisingly faithful telling of the story, but against a brutal, angular set, and with a contemporary focus on the underlying domestic violence issues which is not something we’ve really seen considered in previous versions of the play.
For those unfamiliar with this particular Shakespeare tragedy, it tells of the titular Othello (Giles Terera), the Moor of Venice.
The society of the day manipulates him for his military talents but will not treat him with respect as he is black. Iago (Paul Hilton), a soldier who has fought alongside Othello, is angry that he has been overlooked for promotion by his general and plots his revenge.
