York Notes for A Level on Othello is the ultimate companion to William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy and will help you get to grips with all dimensions of the text. Exploring aspects of the work including the play’s genre, structure, characters, historical context and symbolism, this comprehensiverevision guide to Othello at A Level and AS will help you to write the very best examination responses and secure the best grade you can. Frantic Assembly are famous for their physical approach to theatre, and this is certainly the case with this production which is full of arrestingly staged sequences. During the opening minutes of the play, the relationships between the characters are brought to vibrant life through an intricately choreographed dumbshow which sees the performers propelling themselves around the stage. Not a word is spoken, but the world of the play is firmly established. Katie Macintyre’s Desdemona was sweet and guileless, with a true note of desperate horror, as she begged for her life.

Act 2, scene 1 The Turkish fleet is destroyed in a storm, while Cassio and then Desdemona, Emilia, and Iago arrive safely at Cyprus. Desdemona anxiously waits for Othello. When his ship arrives, he and Desdemona joyfully greet each other. Iago, putting his plot into action, persuades Roderigo that Desdemona is in love with Cassio and that Roderigo should help get Cassio dismissed from the lieutenancy. But this play stands or falls by its Iago. Jamie Smelt was terrific – plotting, scheming, playing his puppets at will, then turning to confide in the audience with a knowing glance that seemed to say: ‘‘You see what fools they are?.’’ Tremendous. First staged in 2008—and subsequently revived in 2014—Frantic Assembly’s reimagining of Othello is a bold and visceral piece of work. Othello was performed by Frantic Assembly at York Theatre Royal Tuesday 18 October 2022. The Director was Scott Graham.Othello has recognized his handkerchief and, coming out of hiding when Cassio and Bianca are gone, wonders how he should murder his former lieutenant. Othello goes on to lament his hardheartedness and love for Desdemona, but Iago reminds him of his purpose. Othello has trouble reconciling his wife’s delicacy, class, beauty, and allure with her adulterous actions. He suggests that he will poison his wife, but Iago advises him to strangle her in the bed that she contaminated through her infidelity. Iago also promises to arrange Cassio’s death. Think Shameless or This Is England; a bar with a pool table and a slot machine; bottled beers; everyone off their heads or on a short fuse in high-street zip tops, trainers, hoodies, stretchy sportswear and joggers. One long Friday night, full of broken glass, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents; a darker brew of John Godber's Bouncers, where the booze meets the bruise. Act 2, scene 3 Iago gets Cassio drunk, making it easy for Roderigo to provoke Cassio into a brawl, first with Roderigo, then with Montano, whom he wounds. Othello, called from his bed by the noise, stops the brawl and strips Cassio of his lieutenancy. Iago advises Cassio to seek Desdemona’s help in getting reinstated. The next step in Iago’s plan is to tell Othello that Desdemona supports Cassio because Cassio is her lover.

Iago explains that he will make Cassio retell the story of where, when, how, and how often he has slept with Desdemona, and when he intends to do so again. When Othello withdraws, Iago informs the audience of his actual intention. He will joke with Cassio about the prostitute Bianca, so that Cassio will laugh as he tells the story of Bianca’s pursuit of him. Othello will be driven mad, thinking that Cassio is joking with Iago about Desdemona. Michael Akinsulire excels as Othello, capturing the strength and charisma that makes the character so admired in the first half of the play, before collapsing into wide-eyed paranoia during the second. Also impressive is Joe Layton as Iago, who skilfully conveys the false jocularity that makes Shakespeare’s most cunning villain seem so trustworthy.This reworking of Othello is as relevant now as it was when it was first adapted in 2008; a focus on social structures, abuse and the power of anger reflects behaviours seen around the country and their irreversible consequences. Frantic Assembly’s choreography is often extremely complex, yet their numerous movement sequences always look effortlessly performed. This mechanism of capture that exerts its force over the characters of Cyprus also occurs within Othello himself. The play refers on a number of occasions to jealousy as an innate force that cannot be planted, but instead grows from within and consumes itself and its host. Othello falls prey to the illusion of his own strength and power, and the jealousy it hides, just as Cyprus gives the illusion of providing a haven from the workings of the law. This direction (Scott Graham) kept us immersed in the action as they took us from the pub, to the toilet cubicle, to the outdoors, often only taking only one swift movement. It kept us connected with the story as it progressed — and this decision combined with a stage almost always occupied with the actors left no opportunity for the audience to be distracted. The title role of Othello was played by the talented Michael Akinsulire — whose portrayal of the protagonist captivated not only the audience but the cast surrounding him, as he recited his many monologues throughout the play. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for his future work as I can see more exciting and well-deserved opportunities coming his way. Michael Akinsulire as Othello

Act 3, scene 4 Desdemona, still actively seeking to have Cassio reinstated, is worried about the loss of her handkerchief. Her anxiety about it increases when Othello asks her for it and then sternly rebukes her when she cannot produce it. Cassio approaches her, but she must now, because of Othello’s anger, postpone her efforts on his behalf. As he waits, Bianca, his lover, appears. Cassio has found Desdemona’s handkerchief in his room (placed there by Iago) and he asks Bianca to copy the embroidery work for him.

The Folger Shakespeare

Lodovico’s arrival from Venice serves as a reminder of how great Othello’s transformation has been. As he stood before the senate at the beginning of the play, he was a great physical as well as verbal presence, towering above Brabanzio in stature and in eloquence, arresting the eyes and ears of his peers in the most political of public spaces, the court. After a short time in Cyprus, Iago has managed to bring about Othello’s “savage madness” (IV.i. 52). Othello loses control of his speech and, as he writhes on the ground, his movements. Othello’s trance and swoon in this scene present him at the greatest possible distance from the noble figure he was before the senate in Act I, scene iii. Scott Graham’s retelling of the classic Othello bursts with violence, betrayal and jealousy. Set in a run-down pub, rival gangs battle over what is theirs, and friends turn enemies as lies are spat and pushed around the group. Within this at times pulsing red pub a microcosm of the society Shakespeare created plays outs with loves and hopes born and torn down. I encourage all Shakespeare fans or anyone looking for a night out full to the brim with drama to watch this show — you don’t want to miss it! The play’s hyper-violence throws a sharp focus on domestic abuse. The familiar setting means Desdemona is no longer a figure in a far-off country, but the girl you might know from down the road. Emilia is not her servant, but her best friend, and both have been abused by dominant men in a world where brutality is a way of life.

Act 3, scene 1 Cassio arrives with musicians to honor Othello and Desdemona. As Iago has recommended, Cassio asks Emilia to arrange a meeting with Desdemona, even though Emilia assures him that Desdemona is already urging Othello to reinstate him. Act 1, scene 1 In the streets of Venice, Iago tells Roderigo of his hatred for Othello, who has given Cassio the lieutenancy that Iago wanted and has made Iago a mere ensign. At Iago’s suggestion, he and Roderigo, a former suitor to Desdemona, awake Desdemona’s father to tell him that Desdemona has eloped with Othello. This news enrages Brabantio, who organizes an armed band to search out Othello. Similarly, when Bianca enters and chides Cassio for giving her a handkerchief she believes to be a love token from some other woman, she talks as though she never had almost the exact same conversation with Cassio in Act III, scene iv. The play’s unrealistic lapses, repetitions, expansions, and contractions may contribute to the audience’s sense that Iago’s power is almost like that of a charmer invoking a kind of magic.In Venice, at the start of Othello, the soldier Iago announces his hatred for his commander, Othello, a Moor. Othello has promoted Cassio, not Iago, to be his lieutenant. A special mention must go to the fantastic Tom Gill as he portrayed the wrongly accused Cassio, who had some of the most intricate moments of choreography in the show. Other elements which contribute to the dynamism of the production include Hybrid’s propulsive dance music and powerful lighting from Natasha Chivers and Andy Purves. In the first act of Othello, Cyprus is clearly not such a world; it is a territory of Venice, to which Othello and company are called as a matter of state. As soon as the Turkish threat has been eliminated, however, the characters seem to lose their connection to Venetian society, and, with its festivities and drunken revelry, Cyprus then seems to have more in common with the alien, pastoral worlds of many of Shakespeare’s comedies. Because Othello is all about the inner workings of the mind, the intimate Theatre Royal studio works perfectly for the York Shakespeare Project’s production.