Othello (New York Theatre Workshop) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (113)
See it if you want to see an exquisite adaptation of Othello with captivating performances and clever production design
Don't see it if you hate Shakespeare and are only interested in going because it's a hot ticket, long scenes of darkness bother you or 3+ hours is too long Read more
See it if you want to see a masterful performance of Shakespeare
Don't see it if you don't like Shakespeare set in modern times
See it if Daniel Craig & David Oyelowo are brilliant. Staging is very intimate. Directing is what I have come to expect from Sam Gold, just see it!!
Don't see it if You don't like modern setting of Shakespeare. Want a comfortable seat, the seats work with the staging but they need more cushioning.
See it if you don't need massive sets or spectacle and can get carried away by masterful material performed by talent artists
Don't see it if you're expecting fancy production values to accompany the high-wattage star talent.
See it if You can. The Iraq-era military setting somehow underscores the violence and raw emotion of the play. Terrific acting enlivens the dialogue.
Don't see it if You don't like modern staging of classics. The set and seating are bare-bones. Seats can be brutal after 3 hrs and 10 mins.
See it if you appreciate excellent acting by Craig & Oyelowo, a unique modern staging of the Shakespeare classic, muscular/physical production.
Don't see it if Shakespearean language confuses you, you don't like modern-dress & staging of classics, you cannot sit through 3 hrs and 10 minutes.
See it if You like your Shakespeare masculine and muscular. Oyelowo and Craig OWN the resonant language. Other roles also compelling. Great staging.
Don't see it if You dislike Shakespeare or think Othello should be more dithery and nuanced. Oyelowo's interpretation is emotionally full-on.
See it if you enjoy classic Shakespearean language with an updated staging. Prepare to spend three hours in rapt attention...
Don't see it if Don't like the classic Shakespearean language full of thees and thous. The production is in the Round so some dialogue is lost. Read more
Critic Reviews (36)
"Craig makes an altogether strong showing as the poison-tongued Iago…Oyelowo comes naturally to Othello...This worthy production is not likely to erase memories of 'Othellos' past; the contemporary slant has resonance with its references of current-day politics and current-day war zones, but the majesty of play and language is—inevitably—diminished. But it’s fair to say that the Craig-Oyelowo-Gold 'Othello' is something to see, and will not be soon forgotten."
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"Inspired, blazingly muscular and visceral. It is also as raw and real as the unfinished wood on the walls...This is high-concept Shakespeare...But it is also high-intelligence and passionate. Unlike many Othellos, who get upstaged by the more theatrical Iago, Oyelowo is just as charismatic...In Iago's soliloquies...Craig's hearty voice hollows into rich, menacing beauty...Gold’s direction is a rowdy universe away from his sensitive touch in the Tony-winning 'Fun Home,' but just as authentic."
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"Oyelowo is at his most transfixing when Othello is at his most broken. Craig twists and turns his way brilliantly through this production...The problem with choosing a contemporary setting but not leeching anything correspondingly modern from the Shakespeare’s text means that it stands there as a prop. The actors do all they can to weave in and around the mattresses and suitcases on the stage as animatedly as possible, but the show feels somewhat trapped and static."
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"If Gold sometimes makes odd choices in casting and setting, he has assembled an array of fine actors to rivet one’s attention...Despite minor smart flourishes, a modern-day military is a thoroughly integrated institution, so Othello’s isolation by his race loses persuasiveness...It’s not the only instance where credibility goes out the window...There’s a lot of questionable logic, but the performances override the bumps. It’s not an ideal 'Othello,' but it is one worth visiting."
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"Gold’s conception, with its modernisms, is actually quite faithful in substance to the drama Shakespeare wrote...His staging is a vibrant effort to provide motivation and context for characters whose actions don’t always add up...Not everything he’s done in taking Shakespeare modern works equally well, but Gold has succeeded in providing a fresh, smart and imaginative look at an extremely well-known play."
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"The overall effect is uneven, because ‘honest Iago’ needs to convey a semblance of plausibility in his interactions with Othello. Yet Craig is so continually shifty that you wouldn’t believe him if he told you his eyes were blue…Though he grows into the titular role...Oyelowo also fails to strike the right balance as he struggles to find his rhythm early on and doesn’t initially convey much heroic grandeur. His downfall thus arouses relatively little pity."
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"In his intimate production of 'Othello,' director Sam Gold lures the audience in as co-conspirators to Daniel Craig's playful Iago...With Gold’s contemporary gloss, the underlying work bends but does not break. From scene-to-scene, dramatic lighting effects and concepts of physical space evolve but these choices complement the text and mostly maintain internal consistency...Gold brings out a buoyancy in Craig whose Iago springs with a dangerous joy."
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"If some of Gold's choices are confounding or annoyingly coy, most of them prove striking, smart and surprising...The keystone here is the stupendous Craig, who plays Iago as an unmistakably Trump-era figure...Craig is matched beautifully by Oyelowo...These three-plus hours gallop along, and the marvelous intimacy of the space allows us to witness a pair of extraordinary actors at closer range than we'll likely ever see them again."
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