Word: iago
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...play cannot succeed without a good Othello, but a better interpretation of Iago than that of Fred Graves might have redeemed the evening's procedings. Mr. Graves is an actor of some polish and a good deal of aplomb, but his Iago is a shallow study of the dissimulating Venetian. It was obvious from the faint smile on his face throughout the play that Mr. Graves was enjoying himself, in his characterization of Iago as a pret-ty clever bird. It seemed as if he were trying to justify Iago, a natural and usually unfortunate thing for an actor...
...often thought to have brought down destruction on his head by jealousy. It is not so. Othello's trouble is with his head not his heart, for he means well but has not the ability to choose". In the same manner the speaker discredited the popular impression of Iago as a smooth sly man by pointing out the absolute trust which was placed on him by Othello, and the honesty with which the author characterized him in the play. Continuing the story, Professor Kittredge laid stress on the pathetic quality of the scene between Othello and his condemned wife...
Enter Ferrer, a rare genius in the American theatre. This is the man who made Margaret Webster's Othello with his real and living Iago. He has at least equalled that triumph with Cyrano. This character, plagued by an obscene nose, must be "all things." After the first act, Ferrer makes the spectator forget that nose. Declaiming with high spirit, he leaves the audience gasping at the arched flight of his slick patter. He is meant to be a swashbuckler, and Ferrer gives it everything as he swaggers and gesticulates in the mixed role of philosopher, poet, soldier, and self...
Jose Ferrer, playing the wily villain of the play, Iago, threatens at various moments to steal the show from Robeson. He portrays with evil genius the wicked shrewdness and the twisted mind that produces the tragedy of "Othello" by mastering the simple strength of the Moor. By a crook of the finger, a clearing of the throat, a lift of the eyebrow, Ferrer probes the depths of the villain's complicated character more thoroughly than could a less capable actor by an entire speech...
Lesser parts are competently, though not brilliantly performed. James Monks, of "The Eve of Saint Mark," does the best job of the minor players as Cassio, another victim of Iago's treachery. Uta Hagen is a very frail and very dainty, but also a very spiritless Desdemona. Margaret Webster, who directed the present revival, plays Emilia, Iago's wife, completely straight. She adds not one touch of her own which would let the audience know whether she is working for or against her villainous mate...