Catherine Bennett resumes the weekly look at the performing arts world, with the sad end of Jerusalem, the luck of a cabbie, and French revolt. Do you hear the people sing?
Adam Alcock reviews Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and his own Four Elements at York Opera House.
Catherine Bennett highlights the trends in the performing arts world today.
Jonathan Cridford reviews 'Ghosts', one of the Freshers' plays for this year.
In a radical change to his usual type of performance, Lenny Henry confronts his previously held Shakespeareophobia, and takes on the role of one of the bard’s most exposed and sympathetic tragic heroes, in front of a packed theatre in Leeds.
The set and costumes of Othello were well designed. The set included several large sets of Venetian double doors, and was deliberately minimalist and unobtrusive, painted black, allowing the audience to focus on the drama.
Unsurprisingly, 'Northern Broadsides’ pride themselves on performing Shakespeare’s works with a northern twang. This didn’t sound odd or out of place in the least. In fact, the more comical moments of the play were added to by the distinctly Yorkshire “thees” and “thous”. The audience certainly seemed more primed for laughter throughout the performance, and I had to wonder whether it was simply because of the presence of Lenny Henry.
From the moment he stepped onstage, Henry’s Othello was a noticeably sombre character, perhaps something that people weren’t anticipating. Nevertheless, his presence and deep, commanding voice instantly grabbed and held the audience’s attention. Although he did stumble a little over some of the more lengthy sections of verse, his performance exuded pure emotion and conviction. His initial love for Desdemona convincingly mutated into mad jealousy and anger.
To measure up to Lenny Henry’s efforts, Conrad Nelson performed spectacularly as the nefarious Iago. Nelson transformed his character between acts. In the first act, he played the devious trickster, drawing much laughter from the audience, but in the second, as the tragedy unfolded, he became the outright and infamous villain. For me, the strongest scene of the play was when Iago sowed the first seeds of mistrust in Othello’s mind. The dramatic rapport (if it should be called that) between Henry and Nelson was perfect.
In short, this was a thoroughly enjoyable production, well directed and strongly acted. It wasn’t a case of a celebrity ‘trying out acting’ in a rather gimmicky, reality TV fashion. Lenny Henry gave a sincere and heartfelt performance of a role he had long wanted to play, and his travails were appreciated in the audience’s sincere and heartfelt applause.
Director Barrie Rutter’s production of Othello finishes playing at the WY Playhouse on 14th March, before going on tour nationwide. Check out the website here.
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