Othello Opens at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Stratford-upon-Avon

It would be good to see the staging methods of Luk Perceval’s Munich Kammerspiele production of Feridua Zamoglu’s and Gunter Senkel’s Othello applied to a Shakespeare play, and to Shakespeare’s Othello in particular. The only scenery is a grand piano on a raised podium centre-stage. Throughout the action (just over two hours without a break), Jens Thomas plays his own jazz-classical music, generally subtle, eclectic, and, on the whole, impressive. Costumes are modern dress and entirely black-and-white. Othello is played by a white actor, Thomas Thierne, without make-up; Emilia is played by a black actress; and all the acting is good – better than Zaimoglu and Senkel deserve.