Othello: not a fan but a grudging admirer
Craig Marker (left) is Iago and Aldo Billingslea is Othello in the Marin Theatre Company production of Shakespeare's Othello, the Moor of Venice. Below: Billingslea with Mairin Lee as Desdemona. Photos by David Allen.
When faced with the prospect of seeing another production of Othello, I usually gird my loins, wipe my nose with a strawberry-embroidered hanky and settle in for a show I know I'm not going to like much. As a theater critic, I suppose I'm not supposed to have a bias for or against certain plays, but that's really nonsensical when you think about it, especially plays you've seen over and over and over again. I've been doing the theatrical criticism thing for almost 20 years now, and I've seen Desdemona choked (and choked and choked again) a number of times, in good productions and bad. And I've never really been moved by the play. Certain performances made an impact, but more on an intellectual than emotional level.
Perhaps I should have skipped the latest Othello at Marin Theatre Company, but the prospect of seeing two actors I admire greatly, Aldo Billingslea and Craig Marker as Othello and Iago respectively, was too much to resist. I have to say I'm glad I saw the production because these two formidable local talents do not disappoint. Watching Billingslea transform from noble warrior to blushing groom to murderous, jealousy-enraged monster is captivating. And Marker's boyish earnestness somehow makes Iago even more coldhearted than usual. Even from behind a scruffy beard, Marker can't escape a look of innocence that contrasts sharply with the evil spewing from his lips.
Billingslea and Marker perform a beautifully calibrated duet of provocation and victimization that erupts into a finale can't help but satisfy when Othello realizes what a tool he's been and Iago is exposed for the inveterate villain he really is.
What gets me about Othello is that until that final section when all the plot machinations start to take hold and the bodies start to drop, I really couldn't care less about any of it. The motivations, the exposition, the supposed justifications for the coming blood bath – it's all just so much rumbling to me, and none of it really adds to the final act, which would still have a visceral impact without any of it.
So while I'm slogging through the first two-plus hours of the nearly three-hour MTC production directed by artistic director Jasson Minadakis, I have time to notice the set by J.B. Wilson. It's two towers of a battlement connected by a wooden walkway with half of a big stone sphere visible between the two towers. The more I looked at the set, the more I realized what it reminded me of: Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the sphere is like that giant boulder that nearly steamrollers over Indy in the opening sequence. And the lighting by Kurt Landisman is distinctive as well – very dark and shadowy like Shakespeare noir...or a really moody new restaurant in a hip Cypress neighborhood.
Fight director Dave Maier gets some vigorous sword fighting out of the cast, who hold swords in one hand and mini-shields in the other, so there's lots of satisfying clanging going on. Speaking of the cast, the supporting players who impressed me most were Liz Sklar as Aemilia, Desdemona's lady in waiting. Aemilia is such an impressive woman – so powerful, loyal and forthright. You have to wonder what she's doing with a slime bag like Iago. Anyway, also good in the supporting cast are Nicholas Pelczar as Rodorigo and an underused Dan Hiatt as Desdemona's pissed-off father. The other players were uneven and often seemed out of their depth with the Shakespearean language.
In spite of all the good things, this is still Othello, a play that tests my patience. In the end, this Othello left me wanting, as so many other productions have, wanting ever so much (you should pardon the expression) Moor.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Shakespeare's Othello continues through April 22 at Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. Tickets are $34-$50. Call 415-388-5208 or visit www.marintheatre.org.