OTHELLO Previews — Page 6

Saw this over the weekend after getting very lucky with a great orchestra seat on StubHub for a fraction of the original price.

Overall, it's the definition of middle of the road. There are certainly some good performances -- Gyllenhaal, Burnap, and Sprawl -- but by and large it feels like Leon and the producers went, "Great, we got the stars, we don't need to do anything else."

The set is unattractive and looks like it cost about $50 to put together, the lighting is standard, the direction virtually nonexistent. The event is seeing Gyllenhaal and Washington go toe-to-toe, and unfortunately even that is a bit of a letdown.

Gyllenhaal is very good in his first Shakespeare outing, he has a command of the language and clearly understands what's saying and how it feeds into the larger scope of the show. They've shaved his head (sadly) and he largely wears various forms of army fatigues. He has a more boyish take on Iago that I think works, or could work if his Othello wasn't noticeably about 30 years his senior. Always a treat to see Jake onstage.

Washington is fine. There's nothing outwardly bad about his performance. He has presence and stature, but he mumbles a lot, says many lines barely above a whisper (I had a friend in the rear mezzanine at the same performance and she struggled to hear him at times). I had not seen Denzel in any of his previous stage work, and it was certainly exciting to see him here, though I think his time to play Othello has come and gone. He is 70 and while he looks great for his age, he looks his age. And I don't entirely buy him as an officer regularly fighting in combat alongside the rest of the men in the company. He and Jake have really minimal chemistry and connection, due in some part to the age gap, I think. He has a few moments of true Denzel ACTING, but largely it just made me think of how great Sterling K. Brown could be as Othello.

Andrew Burnap and Kimber Elayne Sprawl really make the most of their time onstage, imbuing supporting roles with depth and feeling that largely lacks across the rest of the production. Both are instantly engaging and likable the second they enter, and Burnap finds humor and levity in surprising ways.

Molly Osborne feels like a by the books Desdemona, I'm a little surprised they were so taken by her audition tape they needed to fly her and house her in NY. She's not bad, but nothing about her performance truly stood out aside from the really bizarre way they've styled and costumed her.

This should feel like a real event, but instead it sort of washes over you and then you leave thinking "okay." I wish that this production had taken more risks because they could've really gotten away with doing anything and not had to worry about making money with Denzel and Jake attached. But instead we get a projection letting us know this production is arbitrarily set in October 2028 and that's really it. There's no perspective, there's no point of view. It's just 2 famous people doing Othello.