Forest Park isn’t the only one with Shakespeare this summer. TourCo, the touring arm of St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, is presenting Othello during August in two dozen parks throughout the bi-state region.
The Shakespeare Festival has reduced the length of the play to 90 minutes and the size of the cast to six, but the company’s commitment to excellence is undiminished. This Othello is first-rate.
TourCo frequently performs in schools and takes care to make Shakespeare accessible to all audiences. The evening begins with a “living study guide” in which the actors introduce the play’s characters and themes. This presentation is welcoming and substantial, setting helpful expectations regarding the play’s racial language and issues.
In the title role, Jason J. Little has a commander’s bearing but is still highly relatable. Little cogently depicts Othello’s gradual deterioration as his mind is poisoned against his wife, Desdemona, by his trusted ensign, Iago.
Charlie Barron’s Iago is chilling when he proclaims his malice in direct addresses to the audience and even more chilling when conceals his nature to work his deceptions
In Desdemona’s initial professions of love, Courtney Bailey demonstrates the strength Desdemona must have had to defy her society’s conventions in eloping with Othello. She retains this strength even when Othello turns on her. This interpretation is far preferable to ones I have seen in which false accusations reduce Desdemona to helplessness. Bailey is impressive also in a very different portrayal of Cassio’s mistress, Biancha.
Ricki Franklin (mainly Emilia), Hannah Geisz (mainly Roderigo), and Jesse Munoz (mainly Cassio) are top-notch performers who shine in multiple roles.
Laura Skroska’s production design achieves functionality and portability by cleverly positioning chain link panels in a variety of orientations. Vanessa Tabourne’s costumes and Rusty Wandall’s sound design add to the sense of occasion in the outdoor setting. Erik Kuhn provides believable fight choreography.
Director Adam Flores shapes the reduced text into a coherent whole with exemplary pacing and use of space. Flores’ interpretation is memorable at the most tragic moment, when the staging reminds us of who has been pulling the strings all along.
—Gerry Kowarsky
For information about upcoming performances, click the following link: https://stlshakes.org/production/othello/
Photo by Phillip Hamer.
