Othello is my favourite Shakespeare play, and Iago is one of favourite characters of all time (bizarre, I know), so I was really excited to see this production at the Globe. I was even excited despite the uncomfortable Globe seating - oh my goodness the seating is a struggle! And, for the most part, I am really glad that I braved the seating. It was a great production with some superb performances, and the little ballet at the end was absolutely exquisite. It made Shakespeare accessible and understandable which, to me, is the sign of a great production.
Mark Rylance’s performance as Iago, however, was a real let-down. He was consistently a bumbling, simple idiot, ‘accidentally’ revealing the ‘truth’ about Desdemona (Jessica Warbeck) and Cassio (Aaron Pierre) to Othello (Andre Holland). That characterisation actually worked really well for the scenes with Othello, but there was no change when he spoke to the audience or Roderigo (Steffan Donnelly), so there was absolutely no sense of a conniving, manipulative mind. There is so much potential to do wonderful things with the character of Iago, and really play with the audience’s emotions and allegiances, but that opportunity was completely missed here and it was really really disappointing. Maybe I have a very defined way of how I think Iago should be played, but even putting that to one side, there was no light or shade to the characterisation, which seems incomprehensible for one of the most two-faced villains of all times.
Despite this, it was a fantastic production, so if you can face the discomfort, try to beg or borrow a ticket.