THEATRE REVIEW: Othello ★★★★

Othello
The National Theatre, London

In past experiences of watching Shakespeare before on stage, I have found myself to be very tired as the story would go along, as I would not understand the language, but I could put that down to being much younger, as this time round I really understood the story, unlike the time when I studied Othello for GCSE.

The set was just the most amazing invention. For the first few scenes we had a backdrop of a London street and pub, beore this soon being flown up to reveal two army bases which could then be expanded to reveal various scenes including a boardroom, a toilet, a lads party and an office for Othello and Iago. It just went to show that you could use a space over and over by just transforming a few features of the space to create diferent scenes. 

 The acting was superb by all involved, and it really surprised me by how funny some moments were to be, mostly brought to us by Tom Roberson's portrayal of Roderigo. Adrian Lester and Rory Kinear really captivates the whole room and gave incredibly realistic performances of their respectable parts. 

 The second act picked up more pace than the first delivered, as it started to tie loose ends created and the tensions was delivered perfectly, along with the increbile deaths by Roderigo and Cassio, which was a highlight of the play for me and the deaths of Desdemona, Emilia and Othello were captivating with the whole audience.

The play got a standing ovation from me and it was well deserved.

 Overall, Othello is one of the most captivating, powerful and emotional pieces of theatre I have ever seen!