The Donmar Warehouse is perhaps the most fashionable theatrical venue in London. The 250-seat theatre is a not-for-profit organisation, sitting beside its larger and more commercial cousins in the West End theatre district. It's built up a mighty reputation, regularly pulling major stars onto its stage ... and into its audience. Tickets are amongst the hardest to get in London, but thanks to my friend Hillary and her membership in the organisation, Friday night found me sitting in the third row of their acclaimed, and long sold-out, production of Othello.
Third row sounds amazing. And it was. But it wasn't a unique view. That's third of five rows on the ground floor, with another five rows in a balcony above. This is a tiny theatre, with a stage many times bigger than the audience area. So I doubt there's a bad seat in the house. If you manage to get in, you're guaranteed an intimate experience.
The star draw for this production was Ewan McGregor as Iago. I was a bit sceptical. He's charismatic and deeply sexy, but could he be evil? Yes, actually. Though not the strongest of the cast, he gave a fine performance and was completely believeable. In fact, the casting of someone who usually plays good guys was a bit inspired; it was easy to believe that Othello and company could be completely taken in by the facade of honesty and kindness.
Iago's role is laden with soliloquies. That's how we in the audience get to see the duplicity and the building tragedy. Played badly, all this talking to the audience can make Iago a comic book villain. McGregor capitalised on the size of the Donmar to make direct eye contact with individual audience members, rather than talking to the audience in general. The effect was electrifying. Especially if, like me, you were lucky enough to have those mesmerising eyes boring into yours for a minute or two.
The real star of the production, however, was Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello. A British actor who is building up quite a portfolio of supporting roles and leads in quirky films like Kinky Boots, he was a forceful and magnificent presence. This was the first time I've heard the Moor played with a North African accent ... which is, of course, as it should be. The different accent, in addition to his colour, worked beautifully to accentuate Othello as an outsider.
Heretical as it is to criticise The Bard, I've always had a bit of an issue with the pacing on this play. I find it incredible that Othello could go from complete love and trust to the conviction that his wife is a whore in just one scene. While the emotional turnabout in the plot still wasn't credible for me, Ejiofor's portrayal of the changes in Othello before and after the crisis were. His body folded in on itself and appeared increasingly wracked by pain as his doubts about Desdemona grew.
The final scenes had everyone on the edge of their seats. Othello's tormented rage when he realised the truth was palpable, Desdemona's preparation for her deathbed tragic. All this was accented with spare but dramatic scenery and the occasional bit of soundtrack music to heighten the tension. Rarely have three and a bit hours of theatre sped by more quickly.
True to Donmar form, the stars were in the audience as well as on the stage. American actress Anne Hathaway (Devil Wears Prada, Becoming Jane) sat immediately in front of me. She was the first person in the audience on her feet as the actors took their bows. Thus validating our enjoyment of the evening ... the professionals were just as impressed as we were.
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