"Othello" - Boston Theatre Works

Jason Slavick, directing a lengthy but rewarding production of "Othello" at Boston Theatre Works, enables actresses Susanna Apgar, as Desdemona, and especially Elizabeth Aspenlieder, whose warm, courageous Emilia steals the show, to demonstrate strength, perception, and friendship to the death.

I attended primarily to watch Jonathan Epstein (Iago) in action; and he does not disappoint. In fact, Epstein's versaility as a dexterous actor is most evident. Iago's the evildoer and Epstein endows him with a cerebral venom throughout. Ever power hungry and sexually jealous, his obsessive zeal and envy mark someone who must be insecure. While it is not possible to sympathize with Iago, Epstein presents a man whose purpose is to ruin Othello. Through voice and physicality, Epstein gives glimpses into Iago's mind -- this is a cunning villain.

Actor Tony Molina does not cut a particularly sympathetic Othello. The protagonist is unsuspecting but he is not portrayed as generous. Convinced that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful (through the familiar handkerchief story), he becomes hatefully imperceptive. He cannot trust her so he strangles her. Molina, who is credible, races from passivity to extreme emotion without referencing the in-between. He often yells -- and it isn't tough to despise this Othello.

Aspenlieder's Emilia is unfailingly loyal to Desdemona, for whom she is a lady-in-waiting. Silver-tongued, she recongnizes that her own marriage to Iago is a sad one. She admits, even, that she would commit adultery. She defends Desdemona's virtue to Othello and exposes Iago for his malevolent scheming. Hence, Iago kills his wife and, dying, she asks to be positioned next to her friend, Desdemona.

BTW performs the show in a black box theater, the stage thrust to three sides, and there is a small, low platform/mini-stage which serves to focus the action. The dying women are placed there as the performance concludes.

Carol Thomas Neely, in her essay written in 1978, supports Emilia as a potential mediator but no man (on stage) will listen to Emelia. She is not a jealous individual but one who sees what is occurring around her. When faced with a choice, she favors the lovely Desdemona as opposed to her brutal, overbearing husband, Iago. Emilia is the anti-Iago. She is wonderfully selfless and gracious.

Aspenlieder has been featured in many roles with Lenox-based Shakespeare&Company. As Emilia, she performs with confidence -- as if she knows and feels the character's motives. This summer, she appears in S&Co's "The Merry Wives of Windsor."

Epstein was, for years, a powerhouse actor with S&Co. He will soon be featured as Vincent van Gogh in Romantic Century's "Van Gogh's Ear." This summer, appears in "Amadeus," with the Stockbridge-based Berkshire Theater Festival; later in the season, he performs, on the Unicorn Stage, in "Via Dolorosa." If you have not yet seen Epstein, make it a point to watch this superb performer. Immensely talented, he has most often appeared on the regional stage.

Here's a nod toward Artistic Director Jason Southerland for choosing "Othello." It's a play which centers upon domestic issues and violence rather than kings and queens as in some of the other tragedies. It is impossible to escape the inevitable conclusion. This is an intimate, confined theater, without any subplot, a viewer might feel claustrophobia coming on.

If "Othello" examines love's possibility, only that between Emilia and Desdemona survives. I saw that through Slavick's direction. Otherwise, hostility and conflict become far too intrusive.
Slavick does not neglect these engaging women. That, in itself, is a significant statement.

BTW runs this show through Saturday, March 11th.