Displaying items by tag: Othello/ 2026

OTHELLO

UK, 2026, 165 minutes, Colour.

David Harewood, Toby Jones, Caitlin FitzGerald, Vinette Robinson, Luke Treadway, Tom Byrne, Peter Guinness, Rose Riley.

Directed by Tom Morris, Tim Van Someran.

In theatre history, Othello stands with Shakespeare’s King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, as the four great tragedies. There have been many film versions including Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Fishburne, David Oyewolo… and very interesting portrayals of Iago, Michael McLemore, Bob Hoskins, Frank Finlay, and, especially, Kenneth Branagh.

For centuries, this play has been acclaimed as Othello’s downfall, the downfall of a great man, victim of a character flaw, in Othello’s case, susceptibility, especially to jealousy.

Looking at this filmed theatre piece, emphasis on dialogue and performance rather than setting and staging, it looks and sounds now far more like the Tragedy of Desdemona, the woman, victim of domestic violence, victim of Othello’s jealousy and rage, wounded pride, Desdemona is misunderstood, undervalued. But this is also the tragedy of Emilia, again a  forthright character, being deceived and used by her malicious husband, Iago.

This version emphasises the unsubtle character Othello. David Harewood has a strong presence, deep baritone, poise as a general but this gradually disintegrating as he is deceived by Iago. He is the straightforward, successful soldier taking Iago for granted, then his exuberantly joyful acceptance of love from Desdemona.

This Iago of Toby Jones (unlike the interiorly devious Kenneth Branagh in the 1995 version) is military, ambitious, thwarted, racist, going step by step on his destructive path, not really interiorising his ploys, but taking advantage of a situation as it comes, not so much a well-thought-out plan, but capably exploiting each opportunity as it arises.

Desdemona is a strong-minded woman, her own woman, forthright, loving, in no way suspicious, equal to Othello, taken aback by his jealousy, loving but defiant to the end. This is a very strong performance by Caitlin FitzGerald (though her sometimes noticeable American accent is a distraction). Desdemona is an ideal contemporary woman but still one who is a victim of-taken-for-granted masculine superiority which becomes, in tragic fact, misogynistic murder.

And, in the latter part of the play, Emilia, a fine strong performance from Vinette Robinson, becomes a vigorously fearless facer of facts, who speaks out in Desdemona’s defence, shaming Othello, defying Iago. But she is also a victim of fatally masculine violence. Toby Jones’ interpretation of Iago is inherently misogynistic towards both Desdemona and Emilia, as well as denigrating Bianca (who is also used by the otherwise charming Cassio).

Using some perspectives from the psychology of Carl Jung, this interpretation of Othello and Iago is that they are military men in war and in the alleged peace times, direct, living in the present, using their own logic and seriously deficient in awareness of possibilities in life and relationships – or becoming trapped in the deadly conspiracies – jealousy for Othello, ambition, position and status for Iago.

In the 21^st century, the title can be Desdemona.