Shakespeare Festival’s ‘Othello’ dons new look
By Daily Bruin Staff
July 7, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Sunday, July 7, 1996
Settings, dressings updated, but Bard’s text, verve preservedBy
Michelle Nguyen
Summer Bruin Contributor
The likes of opera, fine wine and caviar may be reserved for a
certain upper strata of society  but Shakespeare is for
everyone.
In its desire to provide Shakespeare for all economic classes,
Shakespeare Festival/LA will be presenting "Othello" in the
Japanese Gardens at the Veteran’s Administration grounds from July
13 through July 20.
"The real benefit is that over 1,000 people a night will gather
together from all different backgrounds," says Ben Donenberg,
founder and artistic director of Shakespeare Festival/LA.
The company has strived to present "Othello" in the most
accessible form for people of all walks of life by subtly
modernizing the setting.
"When we approached Shakespeare’s plays we tried to make them
user friendly," Donenberg says.
"To present them in Elizabethan England is to maybe make it less
accessible to the audience. Instead of putting them (the actors) in
tights and pumpkin pants we have put them in a more modern
feel.
Donenberg created a set that was more modern than Elizabethan
England, but he did not want to bring it up to contemporary
standards where all aesthetic sense of tradition would be lost. The
appearance of the set is an Italian, industrial look which is
placed in Venice and Cypress.
Although this Shakespeare company has modernized the setting,
they have not changed the essence of what Shakespeare’s plays are
about. None of the original words of the play were changed.
"We respect the world created in the play … We work very hard
to imaginatively preserve the world that Shakespeare was living in.
We don’t want to destroy the logic of the play," says
Donenberg.
In keeping with the essence of "Othello" in its purest form, the
director tried not to create any deliberate vision of how the play
should be shaped.
"Conceptually, I tried not to get in the way," says Christopher
Markle, director of "Othello."
"Sometimes directors worry about things such as whether someone
should be holding an Evian bottle or not. For me, what was
important was things such as the feeling of female space and male
space. It is a play about light and darkness."
The presentation of the play will make it easy to enjoy for all
kinds of people. But what initially draws these crowds to watch
Shakespeare is the particular nature of his plays.
"Shakespeare more than any other playwright is able to capture
in his plays universal human traits and characteristics that
audience members from all different backgrounds can identify with,"
Donenberg says.
"Here we are 400 years after "Othello" was written putting on
stage a story with as much immediacy as any play could have living
in Los Angeles.
"I’m referring to feelings of jealousy, betrayal, deception and
love. Shakespeare taps those types of chords in us that reverberate
over centuries."
One human condition that all people can relate to in "Othello"
is great love.
"It’s about how we love not wisely," Markle says.
"We have all experienced not loving wisely, from a flower we
didn’t take care of to a person we hurt."
Not only does Shakespeare tap into universal emotions, but his
plays discuss the controversial issues that people living in the
Los Angeles area can relate to.
"I thought that in light of recent events in L.A. and issues of
race relations and interracial communities, that this play reflects
those issues in a very artful way," Donenberg says.
"Our community could learn a great deal from looking at
Shakespeare’s reflections on these issues. Our community could be
inspired to ask questions about the dialogue."
The company wants to give people a sense of hope in the midst of
boiling racial tensions and the uneasiness of the future of the
community.
"People are looking for different ways to live together and
thrive," Donenberg says.
"When you look at the issues on stage, it really enhances the
dialogue. It attracts audiences from all different communities and
brings them together in one place for one night."
Hopefully, sharing the experience of Shakespeare with seemingly
distant strangers will give people a common thread to work
with.
"When the play is over, they will look over to the person next
to them and realize that they were breathing together and laughing
together. It gives the sense of hope that ‘We did this together.
We’re not as different as we think we are.’"
THEATRE: Shakespeare Festival /LA at Downtown’s Citicorp Plaza
(July 24-27), Palos Verdes’ South Coast Botanical Garden (July
31-August 4) and Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium (August 7-11).
Shows start at 8:15 P.M. Reservations and info: (213) 489-4127.
