Othello

Frantic Assembly's production of 'Othello' at the Quays Theatre in The Lowry, was certainly not what I expected.

As you are seated, much like 'The Phantom of the Opera,' you are cast directly into the action with the stage curtains already open, and the scene set out before you -a pub with a snooker table and a slot machine- not something I'd expect from a Shakespeare production...

Neither was I expecting the 5 minute dance routine which opened the show, and introduced the themes of the play. The play was very true to Shakespeare's script, (all Shakespearean language, set in a modern setting, with the inclusion of some modern hand gesticulations and vulgar vocabulary.) However, this worked well in my opinion, as did the occasional dance routines during the play, including a Square Dance with baseball caps and bats.

The play kept all Shakespeare's themes, and even the war in the original script was here, but against two gangs rather than two fleets, -which made for some odd ''the master has come ashore," lines.

All in all, the choreography, the set and the special effects (Othello's suicide,) were all very well put together. The dialect was a bit too much at times, and didn't really suit the Shakespearean words with a Yorkshire accent, but it didn't take away from the enjoyability of the show.

A good effect was a pool table which doubled for Othello and Desdemona's marital bed, which the cast incorporated into the show often, by delviering soliloquies on top of it, and dancing around it, dragging it along. The set was very simple, but the bar walls sometimes pulled back to reveal the street outside, and also the 'pub' toilets, which was very effective.

All in all, a very good production with the strangest programmes I've ever seen --it was the actual script to the show! Good or not? -Well, you could at least tell when they'd messed their lines up!

S.L.