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REVIEW CLASSIC OTHELLO Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 21 Nov ●●●●●
Guy Hollands’ interpretation of the Bard’s tragedy of racial hatred, jealousy and betrayal is a stripped- back version, starkly lit, with minimal staging, that returns the focus squarely to Shakespeare’s language. Thus, the most successful moments come about in the quieter sequences, the soliloquies, and the intimate two- handers. The scenes in which the duplicitous ensign Iago (Andy Clark) provokes and inflames the Moor’s (Jude Akuwudike) latent jealousy are particularly effective, while the pervading sense of quiet foreboding really comes into its own in the bedroom scenes between Desdemona (Sarah Howden) and Emilia (Pauline Knowles) prior to Dedemona’s murder. Howden brings engaging warmth and feistiness to the role of the doomed heroine, while Clark, as the villain, deftly manages the shifts between scheming fanatical thug and avowedly honest, loyal friend. Overall, though, there’s too little variety in pace here, with even the ensemble scenes being muted and sombre. The cast generally underplays, with the exception of Akuwudike, who gives a huge performance as the Moor. While underlining Othello’s ‘outsider’ status, this contrast effects an incongruity that requires an adjustment on the part of the audience whenever the tragic hero appears onstage. (Allan Radcliffe)
Theatre
PREVIEW CONTEMPORARY DANCE MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Fri 6 & Sat 7 Nov
For many choreographers, the work is never finished. Each time they watch a performance, another note is taken, another tweak made. Not so Mark Morris. For him, when the job’s done, it’s done. Making a welcome return to Edinburgh with works choreographed in 1992, 1993 and 2007, did Morris feel the need to re-visit his older creations? ‘I adjust things a little bit,’ he says. ‘But really, if I want to make lots of changes I just make up a new dance. It’s much easier to choreograph a new piece than fix an old one. My favourite part of the process is always making things up, so when it’s opening night that’s great – and then it’s finished.’
As always, live music will play a large part in the programme, with musicians from the Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble accompanying the dancers on their six-week UK tour. Both Italian
Concerto and Three Preludes will feature live piano works by Bach and Gershwin respectively. While Morris’ popular large-scale work, Grand Duo has an uplifting score by America composer, Lou Harrison played on violin and piano.
Most exciting of all, however, is Bedtime, a powerful
piece about sleep and death set to the songs of Schubert – performed live by a mezzo-soprano, two tenors and two baritones. As a largely abstract choreographer, does Morris alter his way of working when song lyrics enter the frame? ‘Of course,’ he says. ‘First of all, that’s why the
music is the way it is – Schubert was working from poetry and text when he composed it, so that’s where the dance comes from. As a choreographer, you can ignore the text if you want to but I’ve always been attracted to singing. As far as I’m concerned, singing and dancing are very intimately related – it gives you more possibilities, more information, more options.’ (Kelly Apter)
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REVIEW REVIVAL TOPDOG / UNDERDOG Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 21 Nov ●●●●●
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a fine example of the power that can be achieved on stage with two actors and a single setting. Topdog / Underdog focuses on two African American brothers, Lincoln and Booth, who have very different ideas about how to escape their troubled upbringings. While Booth dreams of becoming Topdog at three card monte, Lincoln, who once cleaned up at the street confidence game, now strives to earn an honest crust as a ‘live’ Abraham Lincoln, top-hatted, white- faced and target practice for regulars at a local arcade. Tyronne Lewis and Nicholas Pinnock are terrific as the brothers who, very different in temperament and approach, are united by their shared history as well as their desire to rise above the crummy hand that life has dealt them. These electrifying performances, coupled to Parks’ rich, snappy, lyrical dialogue pulls us into their story, which expands beyond the narrow confines of the one-room apartment the brothers share, to create a bleak portrait of the culture and expectations of the modern African American male. The final scene in particular is rigid with tension, while the climax really makes you think about what you’ve just seen. (Allan Radcliffe)
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5–19 Nov 2009 THE LIST 85