A Playwright and his Tricks
Mar. 23rd, 2010 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinI know you've all been waiting on tenterhooks for my judgment on this matter, so at long last I can finally announce that after much diligent research* I have decided on my favourite audio recording of Othello. It is the 2003 Arkangel production with David Threlfall as Iago, and an awesome ensemble, though I still prefer Lenny Henry as Othello. This one (Don Warrington) originally struck me as a bit stiff, but after hearing his breakdown at the end, on subsequent listenings I could hear the acting in the earlier stuff, so I guess he's an acquired taste.
*only if you count 'listening to three recordings' diligent (or research, for that matter)
Mr Threlfall amuses me because until now his most distinctive line, in my head, was 'Which it is soused hog's face' – he played Killick in Master & Commander. But he is a FANTASTIC Iago, bringing so much life and personality to the interpretation, as well as being gradually and irrevocably subsumed by evil through the course of the play – there's a bit at the end where he's been caught out and is facing some unspeakable fate, and to top it all off Othello stabs him ... and he chuckles. It is the most chilling and yet awesome thing. It makes you wonder if the stab failed to kill him because Othello was distraught and off his game, or if he is now unkillable because he is no longer human but pure evil.* (Iago actually corresponds fantastically well with René Girard's concept of Satan, but that is a topic for anotherday year...)
*obligatory Time Bandits reference
Oh, and, one funny thing: Roderigo in this cast sounds amusingly similar to Robert Webb. In a good way. I don't recognize the name of the actor but he's wonderful; he brings a lot of unexpected comedy to his readings, and a puppy-like naivete to the character which makes him a lot more fun than he might otherwise be.
So ... I've listened to it a few times now ... and in doing so I've picked up some subtler things in the plotting which get missed the first time through because it's hard enough to keep up with the language. The cool things will be discussed later; tonight is for frivolity!
There are quite a few moments of what would probably be considered lazy storytelling by today's standards. A boatload of expository dialogue, for one (which suits it for radio dramatization), and things like people coincidentally wandering into the scene right when they're needed, etc. One of the more amusing examples of this appears to be Shakespeare writing himself into a corner and then using a cutaway scene to weasel his way out of it. I call you out, William Shakespeare:
I have edited the dialogue slightly for clarity ... there's a little rambling in the first scene and a couple lines expository dialogue in the second but that's pretty much the gist of it. Between the two is a scene with Emilia and Desdemona. Trying to distract us with ladies undressing, Mr Shakespeare? For shame!
Anyway, this (and the other episodes like it) just goes to show that you can have moments of inelegant writing, bits where the story 'math' doesn't add up as nicely as it should, but if you're bang on the money in the Human Truth and Emotional Resonance departments, your story will still be enjoyed four hundred years later.
*only if you count 'listening to three recordings' diligent (or research, for that matter)
Mr Threlfall amuses me because until now his most distinctive line, in my head, was 'Which it is soused hog's face' – he played Killick in Master & Commander. But he is a FANTASTIC Iago, bringing so much life and personality to the interpretation, as well as being gradually and irrevocably subsumed by evil through the course of the play – there's a bit at the end where he's been caught out and is facing some unspeakable fate, and to top it all off Othello stabs him ... and he chuckles. It is the most chilling and yet awesome thing. It makes you wonder if the stab failed to kill him because Othello was distraught and off his game, or if he is now unkillable because he is no longer human but pure evil.* (Iago actually corresponds fantastically well with René Girard's concept of Satan, but that is a topic for another
*obligatory Time Bandits reference
Oh, and, one funny thing: Roderigo in this cast sounds amusingly similar to Robert Webb. In a good way. I don't recognize the name of the actor but he's wonderful; he brings a lot of unexpected comedy to his readings, and a puppy-like naivete to the character which makes him a lot more fun than he might otherwise be.
So ... I've listened to it a few times now ... and in doing so I've picked up some subtler things in the plotting which get missed the first time through because it's hard enough to keep up with the language. The cool things will be discussed later; tonight is for frivolity!
There are quite a few moments of what would probably be considered lazy storytelling by today's standards. A boatload of expository dialogue, for one (which suits it for radio dramatization), and things like people coincidentally wandering into the scene right when they're needed, etc. One of the more amusing examples of this appears to be Shakespeare writing himself into a corner and then using a cutaway scene to weasel his way out of it. I call you out, William Shakespeare:
I have edited the dialogue slightly for clarity ... there's a little rambling in the first scene and a couple lines expository dialogue in the second but that's pretty much the gist of it. Between the two is a scene with Emilia and Desdemona. Trying to distract us with ladies undressing, Mr Shakespeare? For shame!
Anyway, this (and the other episodes like it) just goes to show that you can have moments of inelegant writing, bits where the story 'math' doesn't add up as nicely as it should, but if you're bang on the money in the Human Truth and Emotional Resonance departments, your story will still be enjoyed four hundred years later.
