Before I dig deeper ("For I am nothing, if not critical"), TAO's production of Othello is an able retelling of one of Shakespeare's most plot-driven tragedies with a skilled cast in the hands of a smart director.  It boasts technical polish worthy of a much larger, wealthier troupe.  I say that right out of the gate because I don't want to give the impression I went away unsatisfied.  But I also want to use this opportunity to expand on previous thoughts about dislocation in present-day productions of Shakespeare.  Director Robert McConkey handles this about as well as it can be done.

In McConkey's version, Othello and company live in 1968 New York City. 

Based on the movie style poster, I expected funk music and other elements of so-called "blaxploitation" films.  Instead we get Sinatra, plus slick videos to remind us of late-'60s racial strife.  Lauren O'Neill's costumes and Marko Bujeaud's unit set reinforce the context without bludgeoning us over the head.  Mark Peterson is both noble and forceful as Othello despite his tendency to shamble. His legs are often playing a more relaxed character than the rest of him.  Luke Amundson's Iago is a laid-back charmer with an Irish twinkle.  I found this a bit incongruous in scenes with his wife, Emilia. The text makes it clear their marriage is already dysfunctional, but it's an interesting choice that plays right into McConkey's vision for the show.  Erica Penn conquers rare dramatic territory as a graceful Desdemona.  The supporting cast is fine across the board, but the biggest crowd-pleasers are Christina Collins as Emilia, Brian Jansen as a hangdog Roderigo, Tim Samland as an alcoholic thug, and Stella Martin as a bridge-and-tunnel Bianca.  

The show works. It just works better if you already know the play.

Granted, most of us do.  Othello is a staple of high school English and drama classes.  But let's say you didn't.  So what's with that sudden war with Turkey?  Why refer to Michael Cassio as a "Florentine"?  (The people of Florence were, in Shakespeare's time, thought of as cultured to a bookish fault, a detail Paul Purvine nails.)  We seldom see directors transplanting Ibsen to Tokyo or Chekhov to Mars.  So why Shakespeare?  Sometimes it's a cost-cutting measure; actors in contemporized versions are free to use clothes from their own closets.  Sometimes it's an attempt to amplify the text - or to keep the audience from getting bored.  I wish directors had more faith in the Bard and his original intent.  It's his writing that's keeps those plays relevant after four centuries, writing that needs no repair or apology.  What it needs is great acting.

What we get in TAO's Othello is a nearly flawless production for people who are tired of Shakespeare's Othello.  Hey, maybe that's fair.  It's certainly true that most people who see the play nowadays know how it ends before it starts.  But I'd love to see a company of talented actors present us with a Coriolanus (a play I know nothing about), for example, and research it well enough to make clear Shakespeare's original poetry, setting and intent.

Meanwhile, TAO's Othello will hold your attention throughout, and its powerful conclusion might even bring a shudder of dread to those who know why its lighting shifts to red in the final act.

Othello

Through July 18, 8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, 2 p.m. matinee Sunday, July 18, $12
Olympia Little Theatre, 1925 Miller Ave. N.E., Olympia
360.786.9484