Depending on who you ask there are the plum male roles in Will’s canon and Iago is high on that list. Yet it’s no accident that the play is titled Othello – further proof that Iago’s been slighted. Mirrored Faces is among a plethora of younger companies rising up in the Wellington scene and there is a cornucopia of Shakespearean productions this year. It seems apt to say, “Our cup runneth over.”

This Othello, set in a dystopian 2145, allows for the marrying of technology and swords, always problematic when transferring the text through space and time. In the fittingly cavernous and dusky basement theatre of Te Whaea we come across an octagonal setting. Three sides for audience seats, gaps on either side of those, and then three sides are a triptych-style set. Walls of Dan Moe’s graffiti in flouro pinks, greens, whites and yellows, with levels made of wooden pallets in front of each – reminiscent of a skate park, albeit at nice one for a dystopian future.

This entire ring reminds me of a roman circus, prepping us for the ‘game’ that’s about to begin. The pillars are adorned with ‘wanted’ and ‘missing’ posters. Many glued over the top of others. I have to smile as ‘I’m Only Human After All’ plays as we enter. The hazer’s been on and the earthy tones of the set are welcoming. And we’re off.

This is a very solid production. Actors know what they’re saying and have clear characterisations. Jodi Walker’s costume designs continue the earthy tones and give a wide range of textures. Iago, sporting a woad-like blue facial markings (designed by Co-Director Jett Ranchhod, this links all our warriors – each with their own styling), is dressed in military-shop garb. Othello, similarly styled, will go onto have a luscious woollen cloak and WWII bomber jacket. Desdemona strides in tight, tough jeans and coat while also embracing assertively lacey nightwear. Emilia’s cloak may seem flimsy but is worn, Thor-like, as a cloak: both strength and lightness in one. Whatever’s happening in 2145, cobblers are doing a fine trade in army boots.

Outside of the pre, interval and post-show songs, Co-Director Lilia Askew, Anna Barker and Annica Lewis use drum, fife and voice to colour scenes. Always fitting, there are times when the low volume (in order to allow us to hear the dialogue) make me wonder what is going on upstairs rather than being ‘present’ under the scene. Elsewhere the music supports heavy internal emotions to varying degrees of success, or becomes onstage music with a rowdy pub scene. I feel that music under the fight choreography would have been a good choice.

Jett Ranchhod leads the cast as Othello. It’s not unusual to be worried when a director takes the central role and Ranchhod does a good job, I’m glad he’s been thinking about this for 10 years as three hours can easily pall if the goods ain’t good. As said before, the cast clearly know what they are saying and the characterisations are clear.

As Othello he moves through the text easily and with emotion, at best in his action scenes. During the more internal moments his volume becomes filmic and  loses us. Once his rage is inflamed by Iago he does blow his load early. Othello takes quite a while to kill his wife, embracing and disengaging with the idea and I think this is more an issue of experience than lack of talent. As one of my fellow says, in jest, “Given how angry he is, I would have given the b*tch a slap way earlier.”

James Bayliss’ Iago is a heavy-set piece of work, physically and mentally the kind of guy you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. Once warmed up he navigates his web with an earthy delight and burns through the play gathering a deadly momentum to the end. 

Emilia (Helen Mackenzie) is one of the problem characters for me. She has an antagonistic relationship with Iago yet still steals the handkerchief for him – and this production doesn’t answer it for me. Still, Mackenzie imbues her Emilia with a stately stillness that has room for a sense of bawdy fun that lurks beneath the skin. 

Annica Lewis’ Desdemona is a fine woman who still presents the production’s problem: why doesn’t she try to escape given she’s very aware of what is going to happen? Perchance (it’s a review of Shakespeare, I get to use that kind of word), I happen upon an article in Scene while waiting for my lunch which talks about strengthening the female characters. Lewis’ Desdemona brings it where she can, she even gets a kick ass fight choreography before she is killed, but this is not enough. If it is 2145, if she is strong, I don’t understand the choice to keep a sense of pleading with Othello in her final scene when her words could easily be a challenge.  I find Ranchhod and Askew’s directorial choices here, along with the gendered casting, disappointing.

Cassio (Tom Kereama) is a licentious flirt and it absolutely works. Most productions I’ve seen make him a little priggish and this Cassio rightly allows Iago to take utter advantage of him and Hugo Randall’s immature Roderigo. In a play about reputation (can we let go of the ‘jealousy’ tag please) these two actors fill their characters to the hilt with their respective reputations.

Anna Barker, Grant Beban, Finn McCauley and a wonderful Lyndon Hood (slyly stealing the pub scene with his reactions) flesh out the rest of the whittled down cast. I think Ranchhod’s edit a fine one, though I feel he could have lost more without giving us less.

Ranchhod’s name is all over this and I think his best work is in the stunning fight choreography. It is athletic, considered, kinetic and thrilling. He also is generous in spreading the love by giving most of the actors some good work to do, and they have risen to the challenge by working hard to make it look easy. Music would have worked well here to cover the lack of knaps (sounds of hitting) and add a little spice.

Ranchhod and Askew’s direction is well thought out, best when there are more people to work with onstage. There are some minor quibbles for me around stilted scenes which could use more movement rather than talking heads and these seemed to always involve the women. This may be a lack of experience; this is Askew’s first major production and she deserves kudos for embarking on this huge adventure, as acknowledged in Ranchhod’s programme notes.

This production doesn’t lag but could do with some pacing. Younger actors tend to get very psychological when scenes talk about the heavier subjects rather than thinking through the lines. And while this can work as an exception, using it as a rule can lead perilously close to losing momentum and the audience. 

One area of this production stumps me and that is Devon Nuku’s lighting. In the early scenes, at night, outside, etc, low-level lighting is very atmospheric; certainly, in the second half torchlight is used in spectacular fashion. But at numerous times through the production scenes played downstage are done so in half-light while an empty upstage is well lit. If this is a stylistic choice, I am left wondering what I am meant to come away with. At times I find it hard to see a half-lit actor against a bright background. Other times actors walk into shadow and stay there for some time. I’m not against shadows on faces (I use them in my own lighting designs as I prefer the texture shadows can give). The basement is not easy to light and Nuku (and Lighting Tech Assistant Darryn Woods, who has experience) has gone for general wash areas across the set but given that there are enough of the few resources to light under set pieces I am baffled. The only answers that occur to me throughout the production are that 90% of the audience on opening night have clustered on the central seating block and the actors have adjusted, or that there is a very bold offer (hat’s off to that my friend) that, for me, doesn’t work.

Perhaps I am being hard here, but with such a large and solid production, which the company has clearly worked diligently on, I would be remiss if I didn’t review honestly. This is a very good production of Othello, that may not answer the problems inherent in the play, may be quite mainstream in its casting and production, but is definitely worth your while.  

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