The reviews are in on the Donmar’s production of Shakespeare’s Othello (see previous blogs) and the response is far from universal praise. While the reviews range from rapture to disappointment, the biggest criticisms have been levied against star Ewan McGregor. While critics do not hate it on the level of, say, Madonna’s stage turn in Up for Grabs, they seem to be largely nonplussed. For many, McGregor does not seem to be giving the role enough bite.

On the flip side, co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor’s performance in the title role has been lauded for the most part. Now, it would be easy to assume that McGregor is the victim of the typical theatre-critic attack (i.e. that the theaterati go into a star-driven production with teeth bared and knives sharpened). Still, that would free McGregor from culpability, which hardly seems fair. If the Scottish heartthrob is not quite the Iago critics were looking for, that is partly because it is the most demanding part in the show. Despite the title, this is Iago’s show, not Othello’s, and if the actor playing the world’s first “frenemy” does not give it the proper malice, the show will not work.

I have always been puzzled by big-name actors’ gravitation towards the role of the Moor, since the character is wholly manipulated (in an interesting parallel, Emilia is the more colorful of the female roles in comparison to drippy Desdemona). Othello can be soulful, confused, poetic, and tortured, but we only feel for him if we see Iago twisting the knife as hard as he can.

Posted Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:16:30 and filed under Othello, Theatre. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.