Move over James Earl Jones — there's a new Othello in town, and she is feisty.
This weekend on the steps of Faunce House, Shakespeare on the Green presents an unusual interpretation of the bard's classic drama "Othello." In the original script, "Othello" is about a marriage between a black man and a white woman torn apart by the whispers of infidelity, but director Sisa Mateo '13 swaps out the black man for a lesbian woman.
Surprisingly, the language of the play supports this change, albeit with a few script alterations. The gender pronouns have, of course, been changed, and references to Othello's complexion cut out. But Mateo chose to keep the well-known expression "the moor" because it is simply "a term that implies difference," she said.
The female Othello works so effectively because of Shana Tinkle's '11 outstanding performance. She clearly has a mastery of the language and packs a major punch. Her booming voice controls the room, often intimidating the other characters in the scene. Tinkle captures the most critical components of Othello's character: the strength and poise that demand respect from his — or her — fellow Venetians.
Nicholas Morley '13 as Iago is convincing and precise as he manipulates the characters and causes mayhem. But during his soliloquies, his facial contortions meant to portray his sinister nature read more as an inability to control his passionate desires.
Many of the play's scenes are emotionally intense, but each of the actors gives all they have with little regard for self-preservation. The actors throw themselves into their characters completely — fighting, crying and having seizures without worrying about their appearances. Though some moments read false, the actors' mutual trust carries them through even the most dramatic scenes. "This play would be impossible if we didn't feel really comfortable with each other," Tinkle said.
Significant cuts were made to the script to get it to its current run time of one hour and 40 minutes, but the play retains all the necessary plot points for a coherent production. The show never drags or seems redundant. Rather, each scene works to build the dramatic tension to the emotional climax.
This lesbian rendition of Othello comes at a particularly poignant time. As the marriage equality bill struggles to get enough votes in the Rhode Island legislature and marriage traditionalists with bagpipes protest on campus, a lesbian Othello is a powerful statement. But Mateo denies using the play as a political soap box.
"If this play makes people think about something that is relevant to those current debates, I'm happy that we've made them think," she said. "But I was very clear when we started this process that, for me, this is not a political statement. It's a play."
Instead Mateo said she sees the story of Othello as "incredibly universal."
"The idea of being successful … but of having some apparently minor doubt — about being lovable, about being worthy, a doubt that … your enemies can play upon — I think is not specific to black men or lesbian women. I think it is actually universal," she said.
"Regardless of a specific message," said Ben Jones '13, who plays Roderigo, "it really is a play about being human and all that that entails."
A female Othello and the fiercely dramatic climax make this production unforgettable.
