The Arts / Performance

Pair of talented actors power Prenzie's 'Othello'

By Ruby Nancy | Thursday, October 18, 2007 | () comments

In “Othello,” Shakespeare’s tragedy about a thwarted love between a celebrated general and the beautiful young woman he adores, a character named Iago manipulates others to accomplish his own ends.

Whether Iago is purely evil or motivated by more familiar human emotions is a common question, and in my experience, the role has been played with an emphasis on the former.

True, Iago’s words may brand him as prejudiced and more than a bit jealous, but his actions have always struck me as being beyond vile just for the sake of it being possible. This notion — that he may be so destructive simply because he can be — certainly could be valid, but I have always suspected there may be more to the story.

Last Sunday, I attended a Prenzie Players production of “Othello,” directed by Cait Bodenbender, and now I know the truth.

Iago, as played by the ever-engrossing Aaron E. Sullivan, is a teeming mass of conflicting emotions that make him so much more dangerous than cold calculation ever could. Sullivan’s Iago — more rugged soldier than adept courtier — is a larger-than-life, scene-dominating, utterly human presence that puts him squarely at the center of the story. (Julian C. Jarrell, in the title role, is as compelling as he should be — and I will discuss his excellent work later in this review — but this production is as much about Iago as it is Othello.) In Sullivan’s more-than-capable hands, the motivations behind Iago’s machinations are brilliantly outlined.

He is clearly a racist with deeply held beliefs about keeping racial groups separate. He also is interested in the financial rewards available from Roderigo, a young man who cannot even begin to compete with the dashing Othello for the attentions of Desdemona. Iago teems with resentment, too, especially for his commanding officer, Cassio, who has the career trajectory he wants for himself as well as the favor of Othello (and, Iago suspects, access to the favors of his wife, Emilia).

Most complex of all is Iago’s love-hate tangle of emotions toward Othello himself. Sullivan brings these to life with stunning potency, imbuing his declarations concerning the general with an impassioned fierceness that borders on the erotic. The unwilling hero worship and the unacknowledged undercurrent of desire add to the complicated texture of feelings that drive Iago, and Sullivan’s finely drawn portrayal of this rough-edged character is gloriously done.

It is a superb performance worth many times the price of tickets to a Prenzie show, and — should there, impossibly, have even been any doubt — clearly establishes Sullivan as one of the top-tier actors in the Quad-City region. While the show as a whole is wonderfully done, this production is where you go to see a master at work.

Jarrell makes a fine Othello,

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too, bringing a suave, commanding presence to this important role. His quiet charisma in the earlier scenes is almost entrancing, making it easy to believe he has so captivated Desdemona (played with lush, evocative grace by Maggie Woolley) that she would defy her father to marry him. Jarrell’s early understated control makes his eventual breakdown so dramatic and his descent into domestic violence and obsessive murder so disturbing. A product of equally obsessive manipulation and more than a touch of post-traumatic stress disorder, Jarrell brings Othello’s disintegration a distressingly human touch.

Woolley, whose pure declaration of love in an early scene is amazingly moving, brings Desdemona alive in ways I have never seen her before. She is both ethereal and completely human, giving anyone who knows the story the idea that she is the kind of ingenue who will not go down with a whimper — and she does not disappoint in that pivotal scene.

Pretty much every other actor does work on par with the stars of “Othello,” lending seamlessness to the production. Andy Koski makes a sturdy, yet nebbish-like, Roderigo, John Turner is excellent as Desdemona’s irascible father, Jeff De Leon delineates Cassio as a genuinely tragic figure and Stephanie S. Burrough is a superb Emilia. Beth Woolley brings a great presence to four roles, including a rather regal lady of the evening, and Jeremy Mahr and Matt Moody, who also play four roles each, do a fine job with all of them.

This Prenzie show — as I have said about many others produced by this group — is a great presentation of a classic work. They bring the material alive as only scholars with a passion and grasp of the writing can do, and the result is awesome.

Don’t you dare miss this “Othello.”

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What: “Othello” by Prenzie Players

When: 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday, Oct. 19-21

Where: Masonic Temple, 420 18th St., Rock Island

How much: $8

Information: (309) 738-2042 or prenzieplayers.com