Photo: G. Sterelli
Although this is a production of Othello primarily aimed at schools, it is refreshingly free of pandering to adolescent tastes. The cast seldom lapse into the usual juvenile foppery, so often found at Maynardville. That said, even though the acting is overall more even and united and the production is on the whole better than some recent ‘professional’ Shakespeare productions, it is a student production mounted by the UCT Drama Department and the Little Theatre and goes by billing as such.
Learners are fortunate to see a staging with such high production values carefully orchestrated by director Geoffrey Hyland. Illka Louw’s eclectic costumes and Daniel Galloway’s lighting are both unobtrusive yet sensitive to the action. The set of slatted walls and charcoal rostrum is aesthetically pleasing, highly functional and versatile – able to support both indoor and exterior scenes with only small additions.
In tandem with the professional staging is the adult interpretation of Iago’s character by Charlie Keegan. His performance physically underscores a subtext of repressed homosexuality. “I am not what I am” takes on another meaning. Keegan has potential, but needs to lose some affectation.
The performances suffer from what Alan Bennett refers to as “the shouting school of acting”. Several cast members, Vaneshran Arumugam (Othello) and Albert Pretorious (Cassio) have delivered better in other plays. Voices are generally thin, bodies stiff and stage presence shy. Ariella Caira as Desdemona and Lauren Steyn as Emilia (Iago’s wife) show the greatest competency within their roles.
The addition of two stereotyped licentious strumpets as friends of the courtesan Bianca is a low point in what is already a misogynist world. Othello is essentially about an honour killing, and given the current global debate one would have thought that is where the emphasis should be placed.
