Othello – The Fall of a Warrior

Source: Othello, The Fall of a Warrior - In Tamil Facebook page

Othello

Ought to be More if Only Given Time to Mellow


I couldn’t have had more misfortune in a day. Leaving office early, I had planned my route out for a wonderful end to a busy work week. It was hence totally unforeseen that I would be lost. Following streetdirectory.com.sg, which I did to a T, I arrived at the ‘supposed’ destination – Goodman Arts Centre. ‘Supposed’, for I was in fact at cantonment link.

Having just 15 minutes to the show, my instincts told me I was doomed. I frantically flagged a cab hoping for a miracle. But soon figured I wasn’t exactly Cinderella and that wasn’t my pumpkin carriage. Unable to stomach the escalating cab fare and traffic congestion as a result of F1, I got off prematurely at Qlarke Quay and took the train to Mountbatten.

I was late by this time. Relentless to get there at least by 8pm, I took a deep breath, took off my heels and ran bare footed from the train station to the Black Box at Goodman Arts Centre.

I made it just as the clock turned 8 but by then, my mood had soured. “This better be worth it,” I remember telling myself then. I had without realising, already set a much higher expectation than I would otherwise. Of course, that is not to say that the expectation was unjustified for the cast was stellar and in every way capable.

I discretely made my way into the Black Box in the nick of time to see veteran Mr Re. Sommasundram’s guest appearance as Duke of Venice. Interestingly, despite being set in 16th century Venice, there was never a moment when I felt the translation to be strange. In adapting the feel of Othello to flow impeccably with Tamil literature, the director and scriptwriter have certainly gained my utmost respect. Also, this is by far a noteworthy testament to the accommodating nature of our rich language.

The costumes department too did an excellent job at recreating the characters in what was appropriately dark and dangerous. At the same time, I appreciate the thought that went into not making them overtly European. The balance also contributed to the palatability of the play’s Tamil adaption.

On retrospect, the minimalism on the sets and the continuity without any distinct acts too is laudable. It worked in favour of the play in building momentum as the plot unfolded; very wise indeed of the director, given the intimate setting of the Black Box as there can be no excuse for interrupting the pace of such a high-octane play.

The projection of subtitles however was absolutely distracting and dare I say almost sinful for even I who was able to quite effortlessly follow the dialogues, caught myself on numerous occasions reading off the projector missing out on the acting. What’s worse was that the subtitles were merciless in giving away the actors when lines were forgotten.

Which brings me to my next bugbear: Most actors were skilled enough to cover up when lines were forgotten but this does not take away from the fact that mistakes in fact happened. Even the smallest of hiccups where magnified when the flow of lengthy dialogues were disrupted.

And talking about dialogues, it still baffles me why the subtitles for Emilia referred to Desdemona as “sweet mistress” when the term “mistress” while addressing Desdemona as the lady of the house could also denote a “kept woman”, the very issue of debate at that juncture. Well, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.

That having been said, I was very impressed with the voice modulations and intensity that the actors projected. The energy and emotions evoked were phenomenal and they transcended my expectations in moments. The delivery of lines with extreme dramatization is in fact something that is more common to stage plays but my scepticism was proven wrong. Applying such stage play techniques to the Black Box setting too was surprisingly refreshing with the maniacal mannerisms of each character haunting me still. 

Source: Othello, The Fall of a Warrior - In Tamil Facebook page

Most notably, Kishore and Karthikeyan were mind blowing in their portrayal of Roderigo and Iago. Scenes such as that when Iago conspires to avenge Othello, and when he poisons the mind of Othello were brilliant. Each time the lightings turned red and Iago’s true nature surfaced, fear crept into me without fail – credits to the lightings team as well.

Although, I must say that I felt that the director tipped the scale in scenes of romance and sexuality with overtly cheesy sentiments and grandiose passion. Perhaps it would not have plagued my theatrical experience so much if a call was made on going ahead with the on-stage kiss or to conveniently leave it out; a tough judgement call for the director to make but nonetheless a very necessary one.

It had me thinking of the importance of realising that the audience too is evolving. More credit indeed needs to be given to them, and by that I refer specifically to the Indian community. Only then can the arts proliferate and become bolder instead of succumbing to the crippling effects of stereotypes and conservatism. In that sense, Othello the play could have definitely done with some learning from Othello the warrior.

Ultimately, this play stayed true to the original, embracing the beauty in one of William Shakespeare’s finest works. Yet, in being objective to review the production value of this adaptation, I inevitably had to strip it from the excellent storyline and script it leveraged on. Othello - The Fall of a Warrior might not have been a revelation but it was certainly a promising first attempt by the team.