Show reviewed:  The Tragedy of Othello, by William Shakespeare
Company:  Heart of America Shakespeare Festival (www.kcshakes.org)
Date saw the show:  June 28, 2008
Place saw the show:  Kansas City, Missouri
Principal Leads:  Damon Gupton; Bruce Roach; Cassandra Schwanke; Jan Rogge; John Wilson
Artistic Director:  Sidonie Garrett   

Reviewed by:  Deborah Ground Buckner (Kansas Correspondent - USA) 

The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival in Kansas City, Missouri, celebrates its 16^th Season with the staging of Othello.  This is the first professional production of the play on a Kansas City stage in over twenty years.  It is a timely examination of the conflicts and prejudices of race in this year of the United States' first African-American Presidential candidate to receive a major party nomination.

Damon Gupton's Othello is a strong military leader who is tender and loving with his wife, Desdemona (Cassandra Schwanke) and respectful and soft-spoken when he explains to the dignitaries of Venice how he won her.  Perhaps suspicious of his own good fortune or insecure about his place in society, Othello becomes susceptible to the web of deceit spun by his trusted officer, Iago (Bruce Roach).  As Iago, step by step, convinces Othello of his wife's unfaithfulness with his trusted lieutenant, Michael Cassio, Gupton's reactions are first subtle and, eventually, overpowering, leaving him writhing on the stage in rage and heartache.   

Schwanke's Desdemona is lovely and spirited, unafraid to let her father know of her love for the Moor, willing to intercede with her husband on Cassio's behalf, and brave enough to face the worst from Othello.  As she prepares for bed, sensing her impending death, she displays a beautiful voice as she sings "Willow."

As Iago, Roach is a glib-talking charmer, quickly moving from one point in his plotting to the next and taking the audience along on each step.  His scenes alone with Othello are his best, with Iago feigning a reticence until it seems Othello must drag the poisonous words from him. 

An aspect of this production I have not seen in others is a truly convincing relationship between Iago and his wife, Emilia (Jan Rogge).  Much of this is due to Rogge's stage presence; she brings Emilia to life as a devoted, though poorly used, wife to Iago and a trusted friend and companion to Desdemona.  As Iago has requested in a point outside the play, Emilia takes a treasured handkerchief Othello had presented to Desdemona.  When she presents the prize to Iago, Emilia is playful and teasing, obviously a wife happy to have done good service for her husband and hoping to win his favor by doing so.  The scene is played well by both actors, and it is important.  In the end, when Iago's scheming comes to light, Emilia is as betrayed as the principal characters, and Rogge presents the emotional anguish of losing the husband she thought she knew.  Rogge's performance truly brings Emilia to life and reveals aspects of the character that I had never found in past performances.

Cassio (Johnn Wilson) has some fine moments, such as the scene in which Iago works to get him drunk to provoke him into a public fight.  He has a playful scene with Bianca (Angela Cristantello), when he presents the infamous handkerchief to her, not knowing Iago planted it to incriminate him.  But when Cassio stands destroyed by Iago's machinations, Wilson does not present the level of desperation mandated by the situation. 

The scene of Othello strangling Desdemona is brutal and disturbing, with Gupton's obvious anguish and Schwanke's spirited struggles that eventually falter.  This, along with the issue of race, is a point of controversy in staging the play.  This production does not run away from the moment, but presents it with painful honesty.

Mary Traylor's costumes are colorful and befitting the characters.  The set, designed by Gene Friedman, includes two Venetian towers.  These make an impressive backdrop, but other than occasional entrances through their doors, seem not to be used.  Most of the action occurs in the open space of center stage. 

Othello is an entertaining summer offering, presented under the stars in Southmoreland Park near the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  Best of all, through the donations of corporate sponsors and Friends of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, admission is free.