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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Sarah Colloby (left) as Emilia, Jane Wootton as Bianca and Rachael Skerrett as Desdemona Desdemona, a play about a handkerchief
Swan Theatre Amateur Company
Swan Theatre, Worcester
**** SO who was Desdemona? As far as
Shakespeare was concerned she was the dutiful wife of Othello, in the
background much of the time, unaware of all the plotting, treachery and
general shenanigans going on around her. In fact, the first she knows about it all is when
hubby not only confronts her but strangles her in a rage for an affair
with his loyal captain, Cassio, an affair she never had. The proof of
her adultery being Desdemona’s handkerchief, a gift from Othello, Cassio
had then given to his lover Bianca From there it all descends into a bit of a
bloodbath with Desdemona’s maidservant Emilia explaining to Othello his
wife was innocent and telling how she had lost the handkerchief, so he
kills her, messenger being a dangerous business in those days, and then
wounds the treacherous Iago to ensure he lives his life in constant pain
before topping himself. Ends. Curtain. But in Paula Vogel’s play Desdemona would have
been off back to Venice and her family the next morning had she not be
strangled first and, although she was innocent of sleeping with Cassio,
he was probably the only bloke on Cyprus she hadn’t had sex with. This is Desdemona in the raw, as envisaged by
Vogel, a young headstrong wife with a life of her own, who helps out at
the local lust palace - horizontal services to the gentry a speciality –
on Tuesday evenings. The bordello is run by Cassio’s lover Bianca, who
in Shakespeare’s version is a courtesan, and a scorned woman whose
importance is much greater than her little time on stage. Here she has
been promoted to Madame, sex on an industrial scale, running the house
of ill repute and dreaming of marrying Cassio and having a little
cottage by the sea. We open with Desdemona turning the room upsi Meanwhile Emilia, a
handmaiden in Othello,
has had a bit of a comedown, being more working class washer woman here
than lady in waiting and innocently setting up her mistress at the
behest of her husband Iago, who wants revenge after seeing Cassio
promoted above him. To be honest although Vogel’s play can stand
alone, it is improved by a familiarity with Othello, or at least a quick
glance at the plot to understand the nuances and references. There are
only three women in Othello and they are the only three characters in
Vogel’s play.
Sarah Colloby is Emilia, giving a fine performance in a complex part. She is both confidante and friend, and also servant, giving advice on one hand and taking orders on the other, loyal to both her mistress and her villainous husband Iago who, unbeknown to her is plotting against Cassio in a scheme that will also bring down Desdemona . . . and half the other characters in Othello. It demands playing almost two parts in one which she manages well. Rachael Skerrett, in her STAC debut, gives us an
attractive, feisty, flighty Desdemona with what appears to be a passion
for sex, all in a lovely matter of fact manner, blowing hot and cold in
her relationship with Emelia and idolising Bianca. Her Tuesday nights
are spent flat on her back in a dark room at Bianca’s bagnio for a
succession of men from around the globe, and enterprise which she sees
as travelling the world through sex – exotic journeys TripAdvisor
strangely doesn’t seem to cover. She dreams of being a free woman like
Bianca – free, of course, being a relative term in prostitution,
referring more to attitude than price. Emilia has no enthusiasm for the line of work
though, even though at sixpence a time she could earn “a week’s wages in
20 minutes”. Her view on sex was simply: “It’s enough trouble
every Saturday night without going out looking for it.” Larger than life though is Bianca, beautifully played by Jane Wootton, blousy, oozing raw sex and availability in equal measure, dressed to go on the pull . . . and ready to undress at the drop of a hat, or perhaps, more accurately, wallet. A lovely perfromance. For a renaissance brothel keeper she has some
modern ideas as well, such as her “Wednesday Night Specials – half price
for anything in uniform!”. There is plenty of
innuendo, and, sexual references as Desdemona and Bianca relate their
exploits, with some gloriously funny lines to give an amusing and
interesting view of the characters lurking in the background of
Shakespeare’s Othello. It is not as intense as Othello, nor does it have
the wall to wall treachery, intrigue and tragedy, or indeed drama, but
it never set out as that. It’s Desdemona’s final day – not that she
knows it – and she is out to enjoy it in a fun play ideal for this
studio setting. Directed by Janet Bright and Sue Hawkins it runs to
27-08-16. Roger Clarke 24-08-16 |
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down having lost Othello’s gift – “Where is that crappy little snot rag”
which is not quite how Shakespeare might have phrased it, but this is
still Othello, so it is still essential to the plot.