Unpredictable: Othello, the good general, turns
into a murderous savage who kills his own wife, in Othello, this year’s
production staged by Shakespeare In The Park (Singapore).
Apocalypse Now. Jarhead. The Hurt Locker. Buffalo Soldiers. All these Hollywood war movies also happen to be gripping psychological studies of what war does to humankind.
But what do war movies have to do with Shakespeare’s 17th-century play Othello? Plenty, says director Bruce Guthrie – and not just on a superficial level, with Othello being an army general.
Guthrie is directing an upcoming production of Othello for the annual Shakespeare In The Park in Singapore, presented by the Singapore Repertory Theatre.
He says: “When chatting about the play with my creative team, I found myself citing all these modern war Hollywood movies and the tensions that come with being a soldier in constant combat.
“Othello has been around war most of his life and that does something to a person psychologically. You have this army that turns up to fight an enemy who never shows up. That energy has to go somewhere ... and I feel that creates the perfect set-up for what unfolds.”
What unfolds, for those less familiar with the play, is a sensational tragedy of love, jealousy and bloodlust.
Othello is a Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice. Iago is his ancient (or captain) who has just been passed over for promotion, and thus bears a grudge against Othello.
When Othello marries Desdemona, a young white daughter of a senator, their mixed-race marriage sets tongues a-wagging. Iago takes the opportunity to exploit the Moor’s insecurities about his age, race, outsider status and marriage – turning the proud general into a murderous savage.
On the final count, though, Othello’s downfall is as much the result of his own perverse zeal to torment himself as it is the machinations of Iago.
Guthrie says a “big problem” he has with it is “trying to justify why this great general murders the woman he adores on nothing more than the word of one man (Iago) and circumstantial evidence.
“But Iago and Othello have fought side-by-side for years in extreme conditions. They share a bond and Othello has learnt to trust those around him.”
Guthrie, who hails from Scotland, directed Twelfth Night at last year’s Shakespeare In The Park.
He says: “For Othello, we have again created what feels like a contemporary setting but it is not actually set in a specific time or region of the world. Our designer Robin Don has come up with an epic design for the park this year – a modern war zone for a timeless story.”
Meanwhile, playing the eponymous character at the centre of the dramatic storm is British stage and TV actor Daniel Francis, best known in Britain for his character on the TV series, Homefront.
Asked how he will attempt to humanise or “defend” Othello, the good general-turned-wife killer, Francis says: “I never attempt to defend any character I play. Othello is human, filled with inner conflicts and contradictions.
“Contradictions in characters draw me in the most because we humans are hardly ever consistent. We often do things that seem random and unpredictable.
“What is necessary for me as an actor is a willingness to explore the darker aspects of my humanity ... without losing my marbles,” he adds with a laugh.
Playing Desdemona, his young wife, is Singapore-born actress Wendy Kweh who is based in London. Kweh is no stranger to Shakespeare. She won awards in Singapore for her role as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2007), and again in 2009 for playing Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. Last year, she played Juliet’s mother in Wild Rice’s Romeo And Juliet.
Kweh says she admires Desdemona most for her “courage and constancy” in loving Othello, despite his false belief that she is unfaithful to him. Even though he ultimately murders her, she forgives him – and, in effect, helps the audience forgive him, too.
Some readers regard Desdemona as something of a weak woman who submits herself to the changing whims of her husband – an opinion that Kweh does not necessarily agree with. She says Desdemona is a perennially intriguing character “because nobody knows what really goes on in other people’s relationships”.
And finally, there’s Iago, said to be the most heinous villain in the Shakespearean canon. Iago is a particularly fascinating misanthrope because Shakespeare never quite makes clear the roots of his discontent.
Iago is played by another seasoned Shakespearean performer, Daniel Jenkins, a Briton based in Singapore for the last 15 years. Jenkins says: “I actually feel sorry for Iago, as strange as that may sound. This is a man who has worked hard all his life, dedicating himself to the army and his career, working his way up through the ranks and quite possibly making many sacrifices along the way.
“So when he is overlooked for the promotion, a position he feels should automatically be his, I think it tips him over the edge and he goes down a path of death and tragedy. It could actually be the tragedy of Iago as much as Othello’s.”
Jenkins also likes the theory that Iago could be impotent: “He is racked with jealousy himself, suspecting his wife of sleeping with both Othello and Cassio (the captain who got the promotion instead of him). One also has to question why Iago and Emilia don’t have children. Is he impotent? Possibly.” – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network
> Othello is currently playing at Singapore’s Fort Canning Park (until May 19) at 7.30pm. No shows on Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission: S$40 (RM96) to S$95 (RM228) from Sistic (sistic.com.sg).
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