‘Othello’ polished, powerful production in the park

As we entered the theater for the preview presentation of the Riverside Theatre in the Park production of Shakespeare's 'Othello” on June 26, director Theodore Swetz reminded us that we were attending a rehearsal.

But with the exception of several cases of an actor stepping on the lines of another, the production was polished and powerful. The lead members of the cast plumbed the full depth of this psychologically driven tragedy.

The play's plot is straightforward. Iago (Tim Budd), having been passed over for a promotion, manipulates his commander, Othello (Daver Morrison), into believing the latter's wife, Desdemona (Kelly Gibson), has been unfaithful to him. Iago suggests that Cassio (Steven Marzolf), the man who received the promotion Iago desired, is Desdemona's lover. With great guile, Iago undermines Othello's confidence in his wife's love, eventually inspiring a murderous rage. The fact that Othello is a Moor-a black man-adds layers of prejudice and suspicion to the tale.

Though he portrays a villain, Budd, in his fiftieth role for Riverside Theatre, is perhaps the hero of this production. He is wholly convincing as Iago, whether he is pretending to help Roderigo (Christopher Peltier) in his quest to woo Desdemona, revealing the full extent of his wickedness in speeches delivered to the audience, or offering false counsel to Othello. It is in this last that the full extent of Budd's accomplishment is revealed. He is so earnest in his conversations with Othello that if one didn't know he was scheming, one would never suspect. As a result, we can see how Othello is taken in, making the deception all the more devious.

Morrison impresses as Othello, with his commanding presence in the early going contrasting sharply with his lowly state in the play's closing scenes. His love for Desdemona is palpable, as is his pain at her supposed betrayal. Budd and Morrison brilliantly carry off the play's pivotal scene in which Iago nudges Othello by slow degrees from full faith in his love to a crisis of confidence. We can feel the doubt take hold in Othello's mind as his supposed friend casts aspersions on Desdemona and Cassio while protesting that Othello must not trouble himself in the absence of proof.

Gibson is quite good as Desdemona. Her character, like Othello, it trapped in the downward spiral of Iago's making, but Desdemona is entirely ignorant of his conversations with her husband. Gibson captures Desdemona's shock when Othello suddenly turns on her, sweeping away the playfulness of their love and shattering their marriage.

Jody Hovland delivers a gripping performance as Emilia, Iago's wife and Desdemona's attendant. Emilia, like the rest of the characters, doesn't realize Iago's evil intentions and thus unwittingly aids him in his plot. But by play's end, she is the story's conscience, and Hovland pours out Emilia's condemnation of both the deceiver and the deceived as she defends Desdemona's honor.

While mind games are at the center of the play, Iago's machinations eventually lead to swordplay, and Jason Tipsword's fight choreography is well done. Josh Christoffersen's set is somewhat confusing, in that a broken pillar persists no matter where the action takes place and some tattered cloth seems intended, oddly, to transform Venice into Cyprus. Iago's devilish pronouncements to the audience are underscored by a menacing sound cue that is more of a distraction than an establisher of mood. Budd is fully capable of transmitting the menace and ire of Iago with the artifice.

In his director's notes, Swetz calls Othello, 'Shakespeare's most intimate tragedy,” in large part because Iago destroy Othello ot for political or economic gain, but merely out of personal malice. It is a harrowing reminder of our capacity for cruelty and the high cost of our basest behavior.

IF YOU GO

'What

: Riverside Theatre in the Park

'When

: Through July 13

'Where

: Festival Stage, Lower City Park, 200 E. Park Rd., Iowa City

'Cost:

$18 to $35

'More information

: Riversidetheatre.org