OTHELLO Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 5:08pm

Embargo lifts early tomorrow morning. 

As previously reported, the NY Post gave this revival 2 out of 4 stars:

https://nypost.com/2025/03/15/entertainment/othello-review-denzel-washingtons-dull-broadway-show-isnt-worth-a-921-ticket/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 7:58pm

Link to the Post review if anyone doesn't want to give them the click: http://archive.today/sbBo3

‘Othello’ review: Denzel Washington’s dull Broadway show isn’t worth a $921 ticket

“Othello” opens next Sunday on Broadway. But The Post has decided to review the show a week early after the production rescinded critic Johnny Oleksinski’s ticket because he wrote a column blasting their $921 prices. That’s OK. We bought our own.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 10:21pm

Is it just me or is early tomorrow morning a way to just bury these reviews? 
I mean the show doesn’t need them, it’s an insane overpriced hit. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 10:26pm

They've essentially said that's the case. From Fordham2015 in the previews thread:

From today’s Times newsletter:

”The show gave critics free tickets under the condition that reviews be published after midnight, so the company can enjoy its opening night party without worrying about notices.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/briefing/broadway-ticket-prices.html

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 10:44pm

I don't really care about embargo timing...some shows now do an opening night celebration on a day that's not actually their opening; some lift the embargo midday; some in the middle of the night (this); some at a more traditional time (10 or 11 on opening night). We even had shows last spring whose official Opening performance was a matinee, due to the late April madness.

No matter when it lifts, it won't have a huge impact on sales or perception. This isn't the film world, when if a movie sets their embargo on opening day or tries to limit press screenings, you know expectations are low.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 11:11pm

Saying their cast would be worried about the reviews if they came out during the party seems like an open admission that their expectations are low. They could have used different, less loaded terms--so their cast isn't "distracted"--than worried.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 11:12pm

AMNY

Theater

Review | ‘Othello’ with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal leaves phones locked but emotions unplugged

 

https://www.amny.com/entertainment/theater/othello-denzel-washington-jake-gyllenhaal/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 11:54pm

3 stars from TimeOut

Othello

3 out of 5 stars

Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal face off in Shakespeare's tragedy of misplaced trust.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/othello-broadway-review-denzel-washington-jake-gyllenhaal

"This is hardly the first Othello to be stolen by Iago, of course—he has the most lines in the play—and this production has a number of assets beyond Gyllenhaal’s blue-with-greenish-flecks-eyed monster. Osborne’s intelligent Desdemona, as poised as a politician’s wife, is costumed with elan by Dede Ayite to stand out from the sea of camouflage. Burnap is a persuasively callow Cassio, Lopez a suitably dim Roderigo. Sprawl makes Emilia a cynical tough cookie whose mistake, like that of many cynics, is that she isn’t cynical enough; she’s so busy being worldly that she misses the depravity under her nose. (When she berates Othello for his naïveté at the end —“O gull! O dolt, as ignorant as dirt!”—she might be berating herself.) But if you can’t see this Othello, don’t despair. As much as you may think you need what Othello calls “the ocular proof,” the production is not a must-see. "

Updated On: 3/23/25 at 11:54 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 11:59pm

NY Stage Review

OTHELLO: GYLLENHAAL SLAYS IN THE GREAT TRAGEDY

By Roma Torre

★★★★☆ Kenny Leon helms a first rate company led by Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington in the title role.

https://nystagereview.com/2025/03/23/othello-gyllenhaal-slays-in-the-great-tragedy/

 

OTHELLO: FOR THIS REVIVAL, THE STARS ARE THE THING

By Frank Scheck

★★★☆☆ Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal star in Kenny Leon's Broadway production of Shakespeare's tragedy.

https://nystagereview.com/2025/03/23/othello-for-this-revival-the-stars-are-the-thing/

Updated On: 3/24/25 at 11:59 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:01am

Green in NYT. Not a critic's pick. Praise for Gyllenhaal.

‘Othello’ Review: Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal Are Prey and Predator

Shakespeare’s leanest tragedy gets a starry, headlong production that embraces the action but misses the mystery.


"These avoidances, and others, do little harm in themselves, but accumulate into a mist of confusion. Perhaps Leon’s decision to set the action “in the near future” (as a projection tells us at the start) is part of that problem, as we cannot discern how the shift from the presumable 1570s of the text, when a real war between Venice and the Ottomans was waged, is meant to influence our understanding.

The geographical setting is also vague. The collection of slab-like columns by Derek McLane, lit in sickly, sullen colors by Natasha Katz, could be anywhere. Though some uniforms marked “Polizia” suggest Venice, others feature U.S. flags, and Dede Ayite’s exceedingly well-cut civilian suits and Armani-style ensembles for Desdemona perhaps point more to Milan. Interstitial music includes American hip-hop and Andrea Bocelli in schmaltzy Europop mode.

In short, as I felt the production’s blunt force more and more, I grasped its aura and aims less and less.

“Othello,” unique among Shakespeare’s tragedies, is lean. (It’s even leaner in this production, thanks to some judicious cutting.) It has fewer major characters than most, and fewer sideshows. (Among the cuts: the annoying clown.) Its poetry is extraordinary. And though four principals die, all ultimately by Iago’s hand or influence, it does not tumble indiscriminately toward the blood bath. The deaths are specific and necessary to its themes.

Leon’s “Othello” gets all that, except the themes."

Updated On: 3/24/25 at 12:01 AM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:03am

The Guardian

Othello review – Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal’s underwhelming blockbuster

3 stars

The record-breaking take on the Shakespearean tragedy might already be a smash, but it’s disappointingly muddled

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/mar/24/othello-review-denzel-washington-jake-gyllenhaal

"Othello does provide a showcase for these two heavyweight talents to bend iambic pentameter to their will – to convey, with their considerable magnetism, both the plot and the emotional nuances of this tragedy to an audience that likely does not totally understand what they’re saying. And it does not provide much else. Derek McLane’s scenic design keeps the stage bare except for some peeling columns, the props minimal save for occasional accoutrements of a modern military operation (army fatigues, Apple laptops). A lit message at play’s opening sets this medieval drama in “the near future” – still Venice (and later Cyprus), though when Gyllenhaal’s devious Iago first appears to set the stage for the fateful manipulation of the general, one might mistake him for a hustler at a basement club in Bushwick. His eyes near glow in the spotlight, and a preponderance on blue-white floor lighting (design by Natasha Katz) gives the production, particularly its monologues, the feel of a concert at the ruins of the Colosseum."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:04am

Chicago Tribune

Review: ‘Othello’ on Broadway stars a muted Denzel and a Gyllenhaal on fire

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/03/23/review-othello-on-broadway-stars-a-muted-denzel-and-a-gyllenhaal-on-fire/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:05am

USA Today praises Washington, Gyllenhaal, and cast. Less so the rest.

'Othello' review: Jake Gyllenhaal is electrifying with Denzel Washington

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2025/03/24/othello-denzel-washington-jake-gyllenhaal-review/82490987007/

"With an ensemble as mighty as this, it’s a shame that director Kenny Leon’s prosaic staging feels like such an afterthought, given his artful recent work on "Our Town" and "Purlie Victorious." An opening title card announces that the story is set in a vague “near future,” where the men dress like Murray Hill bros, while the women look as if they stepped out of a Talbots catalog. (And please, dear God, it’s time for a moratorium on army fatigues in modern Shakespeare productions.) Derek McLane’s scenic design is frustratingly rote – mostly consisting of moving columns – although lighting designer Natasha Katz manages to create some stunning silhouettes as the violence ramps up in the second act."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:06am

Entertainment Weekly: B

Othello review: Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal shine in an otherwise shaky production

A timeless text is caught between eras.

https://ew.com/othello-review-denzel-washington-jake-gyllenhaal-do-battle-on-broadway-11701734

"That’s too bad, because there are exciting and bold modernization opportunities that could have been explored via this timeless text. All of Iago’s expert manipulation brought to mind some similar antics we’ve witnessed in a certain Scottish castle of late. It may sound crazy, but is the evil ensign bending others to his will through careful calculation all that different than Boston Rob working the margins and skillfully convincing competitors to banish Bob the Drag Queen on The Traitors?

A Roundtable ceremony with Denzel and Jake? Count me in. "

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:06am

Hollywood Reporter

‘Othello’ Theater Review: Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal Bring Star Wattage to Middling Revival Otherwise Short on Electricity

Kenny Leon directs the first production of Shakespeare’s tragedy to play Broadway in more than 40 years, also featuring Molly Osborne, Andrew Burnap and Kimber Elayne Sprawl.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/othello-theater-review-denzel-washington-jake-gyllenhaal-shakespeare-broadway-1236170552/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:07am

Deadline

‘Othello’ With Denzel Washington & Jake Gyllenhaal: Once Again Iago Gets The Last Laugh – Broadway Review

https://deadline.com/2025/03/othello-broadway-denzel-washington-jake-gyllenhaal-1236346453/

"

It won’t be enough to say Othello is well acted throughout: With curiosity high about the show’s mega-stars Washington and Gyllenhaal, details are all but demanded. So here’s the short take: Washington is fine, a bit unsure of his characterization occasionally and fitful in his mood shifts. One thing he isn’t is too old for the role: At 70, Washington is several decades beyond the age of the usual Othello, and while his pairing with the much younger Molly Osborne’s Desdemona seems a bit less passionate than fatherly at first, the direction and performances settle into an entirely defensible approach wherein an aging, if powerful, man, beguiled by a beautiful young woman seeming to be in his thrall, falls victim to the green-eyed monster when the idea is planted that a much hotter and much more age-appropriate hot shot has arrived on the scene. Indeed, both Leon and Washington would have been wise to have leaned into that particular motivation even more heavily – young Cassio is played by the very youthful-handsome Andrew Burnap. The kid could inspire any number of green shades to color the old monster bedeviling Othello.

If Washington seems still to be finding a steadier approach to the Moor, Gyllenhaal, as the great villain Iago, is having no such trepidations. Last seen on Broadway in the excellent 2019 solo one-acts Sea Wall/A Life, Gyllenhaal bounds, loose-limbed and bursting with malevolent energy, onto the Barrymore stage and barely takes a breath for the next nearly three hours. It is a remarkable performance, conversational, contemporary and unerringly convincing."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:09am

The Wrap

‘Othello’ Broadway Review: Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal Are Riveting in an Unfocused Modern Take

The production has already set a record for non-musicals with the highest grossing single week in Broadway history

https://www.thewrap.com/othello-broadway-review-denzel-washington-jake-gyllenhaal/

"Jake Gyllenhaal plays Iago, and he bursts on stage like some MAGA fanatic launching into another rant about a D.E.I. hire.

One of the great features of Kenny Leon’s direction is how Washington, even in his soliloquies, appears to be off in some alternate reality. Gyllenhaal speaks directly to the audience in our flat American accent, and while there might be some loss of poetry here, he grabs our attention to the point of making us his closest accomplices. The difference between us and his real accomplices — Andrew Burnap as Cassio and Anthony Michael Lopez as Roderigo, both of whom are excellent – is that we know what’s going on. Cassio and Roderigo are duped, we’re not. Even more delightfully creepy is that we find ourselves seduced into cheering on this extremely charming villain. He even entertains us at the top of the show with a spot-on impersonation of Denzel Washington. Gyllenhaal delivers the most engaging Iago I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some pretty good Iagos: Christopher Plummer with Jones and Daniel Craig with Oyelowo. Gyllenhaal’s performance fuels the show, and when his Iago takes a needed break after getting Cassio wounded and Roderigo murdered, this “Othello” never quite regains either its focus or its propulsive momentum."

Updated On: 3/24/25 at 12:09 AM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:12am

Holdren in Vulture

The Moor's a Bore: Denzel Washington in Othello

 

Kenny Leon’s production, co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is low on ideas and lower on energy.

https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-denzel-washington-in-othello.html

"Bad theater can be uniquely enraging. (Arguably, I’m here writing this because I once got very mad while watching a play.) But it can also be simply baffling. Who approved of this? What does this thing actually want to say? Is anyone in this room, onstage or off, having a good time? Why do the cops’ flak jackets say “Polizia” while the military uniforms have American flags on them? Does this play take place in a future where the U.S. has annexed Venice? 

“This play” is Othello, currently looking pretty spry as it breaks Broadway box office records and charges as much as $921 for tickets. “Othello will outlive you!” my tenth-grade English teacher shouted at a kid in my class who didn’t feel like tuning in for a day of close reading. She was and is right, though it’s clearly not Shakespeare racking up those grosses: It’s Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. And while it’s true that a Venn diagram exists between celebrity-driven projects and compelling art—and that the center can be a thrilling place—Kenny Leon’s passionless new production is about as far from that overlap as it’s possible to get. Audience and ensemble alike are lost in a hinterland so disconcertingly sleepy and beige that it’s hard to summon anything as visceral as fury. At the forefront of the whole thing, Washington isn’t bothering—at least in any legible way—to feel much, so how can we?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:13am

"Jake Gyllenhaal plays Iago, and he bursts on stage like some MAGA fanatic launching into another rant about a D.E.I. hire.“

God, I hope they put that quote outside of the theatre lololol

 

[FLarnhill]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:18am

"Gyllenhaal delivers the most engaging Iago I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some pretty good Iagos"

 

Probably hasn't seen Ian McKellen as Iago.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:29am

WSJ: 

‘Othello’ Review: Denzel Washington’s Dismal Revival

The actor stars alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in a Broadway production of Shakespeare’s tragedy, directed by Kenny Leon, that struggles to make music of the text.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/othello-review-denzel-washingtons-dismal-revival-1d83de8a

"Mr. Washington is never less than assured in transmitting the basic meaning of the text. But what’s crucially missing is an understanding of how the complex beauty of Shakespeare’s verse defines his characters; if the language as spoken does not achieve the necessary rhetorical heights, fails to captivate with its richness, the character shrinks. Such is the case here: Othello’s speeches of staunch love for his wife, and later his disorienting anguish at her suspected betrayal, never land with the power that can make this tragedy so agonizing to watch.

Mr. Gyllenhaal fares comparatively better, although his own attempts to shape the rhythm of the verse into something vaguely resembling rap (his shaved head inspired my Eminem allusion), or at least contemporary colloquial speech, rob Iago of some of his own majesty, malignant though it is. Mr. Gyllenhaal, however, is a smoothly engaging actor, and Iago’s monologues addressed directly to the audience give him an opportunity to seduce us with his oily eloquence. His performance is effective, but hardly the fathomless portrait of human perfidy and its destructive power that it should be."

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 12:42am

CBS New York report on ''Othello's'' opening: Among the star-studded audience: Jennifer Lopez, Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, former President Joe Biden ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKxsdY7v_Bo

 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 2:02am

DTLI Consensus: Minimalist and contemporary, this Othello is merely okay and might leave you wanting a bit Moor.

13 mixed (including the NYT), 3 negative, 2 positive. 

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/othello-3/
 

Updated On: 3/24/25 at 02:02 AM

[BJR]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 2:06am

It feels like YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (yes, I know I'm dating myself kids), where the price of the ticket is being mentioned in every review and used as a cudgel to knock the production with.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/25 at 2:20am

Had been trying to find this one earlier.

Daily Beast

Denzel Washington’s ‘Othello’ on Broadway Isn’t Worth Its $900 Ticket Prices

MAJOR LETDOWN

After all the blaring headlines around “Othello” on Broadway—Denzel! Jake! Tickets near a thousand dollars!—how strange that the production itself is so lacking in execution.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/othello-on-broadway-denzel-washington-and-jake-gyllenhaals-tragic-misfire/

"Instead of insightful interpretation—or even the pleasure of watching the dual and dueling star power of Washington and Gyllenhaal up close on stage—this is a bizarrely underpowered production that rarely rises to compelling drama. When it does it’s thanks to Gyllenhaal, and co-stars Kimber Elayne Sprawl (as Emelia, Iago’s wife) and Andrew Burnap (Cassio, Othello’s lieutenant)."

...

"Like much in this production, the presentation of the final scene feels rushed and ill-conceived. This is not a terrible production of Othello, but even a workmanlike rendering of a classic Shakespearean play needs a blueprint for itself, a setting that makes sense, a distinctive reason to be—and a cast collectively making coherent sense of its conception. The real tragedy of this Othello may be reserved for those who spend a thousand dollars to see it."
 

Updated On: 3/24/25 at 02:20 AM