”Othello” features flat-out brilliant acting

This is serious Shakespeare – without having to drive to Ashland, Ore.

I won’t say that Interplayers Ensemble’s “Othello” is all the way up to Oregon Shakespeare Festival standards. Interplayers would have to add a few million dollars to its budget for that. Yet, this Interplayers production comes pleasingly close with stunning direction, seasoned Shakespearean actors and an elegant design.

The Interplayers version also features the most important element of any memorable “Othello” – an Iago who takes your breath away with his audacious villainy. This production has exactly that in Alex Robertson – who, by the way, lives in Ashland and is an Oregon Shakespeare veteran.

The overall tone and feel struck me as particularly coherent. In bad Shakespearean productions, the verbiage can seem baffling, like strings of disconnected words pouring out in meaningless torrent. In this production, I felt I knew what each character was getting at, even if I didn’t strictly understand the literal meaning of, for instance, “as bitter as coloquintida.”

This quality doesn’t come about by accident. It begins with a knowledgeable director – in this case, Interplayers artistic director Nike Imoru – who works with the actors to discern the playwright’s intent. Then it continues with the actors, trained in Shakespeare but not grandly “Shakespearean,” who can convey that meaning clearly through inflection and gesture even when the words are archaic.

This “Othello” also has a beautiful look thanks to scenic and lighting designer Dean Panttaja. He and Imoru settled on what seemed at first impression an odd choice. Venice is portrayed as colonial Charleston and Cyprus as the West Indies. We see arched porticoes, a courtyard and a tinkling fountain. The sumptuous costumes by D.J. (yes, that’s her full name) also effectively reflect this colonial theme.

Yet this turned out to be a particularly effective and unobtrusive choice. Unobtrusive, because we still believe we are in Venice and Cyprus – just particularly beautiful versions of them. Effective, because the classically symmetrical courtyard, arches and blood-red awning have a wholly pleasing effect on the eye.

Imoru even uses the tinkling of the fountain to dramatic effect, shutting it off during soliloquies to heighten the tense stillness.

The casting of Reginald Andre Jackson as Othello was a risk. Jackson, a Seattle actor, does not fit the usual Othello image – he’s younger, less physically imposing, more fidgety. He reminded me more of Chris Rock than Laurence Fishburne, who starred in a recent film version. During his soliloquies, he needed to project a little more.

Yet Jackson won me over, especially in the fourth and fifth acts, when he becomes completely unhinged in jealousy and rage. Then, his angular movements and nervous energy seem just right – the picture of a body at war with a mind.

Still, as in most “Othello” productions, the play belongs to Iago. Iago is the jilted second-in-command who launches an audacious scheme to destroy Othello. Iago makes Othello think his wife, Desdemona, and lieutenant Cassio are making “the beast with two backs,” to use a phrase that first occurs in this play. Iago is the man who makes this plot happen; Othello is just the poor sap it happens to.

Robertson is flat-out brilliant at showing Iago’s gift for insinuation, his cunning deviousness, his ability to spout his love for Othello while, brow furrowed, he plots his next lie. Robertson plays Iago deadpan, never resorting to a single villainish cliché. During his brilliant soliloquies, he adopts the most insidious and disturbing manner of all – he is matter-of-fact.

Kate Parker shows great talent and restraint as Desdemona, an innocent pawn in Iago’s game. A group of Spokane’s most talented actors do nice turns in character roles – Patrick Treadway as Roderigo, Reed McColm as Lodovico, Damon Abdallah in multiple roles, Gretchen Oyster as Emilia, Ann Whiteman as the Duke and Maynard Villers as Brabantio.

About five years ago, I saw a brilliant production of “Othello” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Yes, it had eye-popping production values – an actual pool of water stretched across the stage. Yet, this Interplayers production contains an equal level of insight into this timeless story. It’s every bit as mesmerizing, and it’s delivered right here in Spokane.