OTHELLO
by William ShakespeareDirected by Brandon Walker and Erin
Cronican
Starring Ian Moses Eaton, Brandon Walker and Erin Cronican
The Seeing Place @ the Clarion Theatre
309 East 26th St
Feb 26-Mar 15, Tues-Sat at 7:00pm,
Sun at 2:00pm
In our “post racial” country with an African-American
president, racism and bigotry are alive and thriving, sadly making
OTHELLO as relevant as ever. Choosing to take a bite out of such a
meaty chunk of theatre is a risky choice, and certainly not easy, so it is
especially courageous for a young theatre company to attempt it.
The Seeing Place Theatre has made just such an attempt, not entirely
unsuccessfully. Although a little young for the part, Ian Moses Eaton
makes a fine Othello. Give him another crack at it in 15 years, and he just
might be amazing. Co-director Erin Cronican is very good as
Desdemona, with a modern demeanor that never conflicts with the language, but
enriches it.
Sadly, her co-director Brandon Walker is
not so good as Iago. His scattered performance and complete lack of any sort of
relationship with Emilia makes the show feel sloppy.
The constant
business of all the actors added to that sloppiness. There was much unnecessary
action, especially all the slamming down of bottles and glasses, and it was
horribly distracting when in Othello’s final monologue, another character was
noisily folding up paper. Things that would be small or unnoticeable
distractions on a large stage with a proscenium separating the audience can loom
large in such a tiny space.
However, the small space was extremely well
utilized by the production design (also by Brandon Walker and
Erin Cronican) and lighting by Duane Pagano. For such
a small group, The Seeing Place Theatre has a lot of talent,
potential and enthusiasm.
- Jean Tait -