Word: iago
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Alfred Drake is first-rate as the unsuccessful misogynist Benedick. He is as adept a comedian as he is an Iago. His diction and timing are exemplary, and he is a master of the nuanced inflection. Much of his Shakespearean prowess is, I think, the result of his being an excellent musician...
...mean to question the critics' verdict on Huston's performance. It was probably no more than good, especially since Huston had to play opposite a poor Iago; whereas Hyman's is a great performance. What I am questioning is their evaluation of Huston's conception (and there is a big difference between conception and performance). Huston's conception was right then; all the critics and most of the audience were wrong. Hyman's conception is right now; a few of the critics and audience are wrong...
...easily jealous, but being wrought perplex'd in the extreme." He says of his wife, for example, "I'll tear her all to pieces." Most actors would here face the balcony and bellow their guts out. But Hyman, realizing that at this point in the drama Iago has not yet fully drawn out Othello's latent bestiality, delivers the line at medium volume and with his back to the audience! But he underscores the thought by extending his right hand overhead and pulling it down to his side like a claw grating on glass. That is real artistry; the effect...
...possible to have a good Hamlet almost in vacuo. But a good Othello is impossible without a good Iago, and vice versa. Alfred Drake shows here that he can excel in something besides musical comedy. He brings a welcome restrained maturity to the role, and we are spared the moustache-twirling, eyeball-rolling villain. Instead of black garb with cape, how refreshing to see Iago in a series of brown costumes! Although he occasionally indulges in too studied a pose, he handles his lines with nuanced variety, often spitting them out rapidly in keeping with Iago's lightning-quick intellect...
Richard Waring's dupable Cassio is convincing. But it is a mistake for him to be clean-shaven, since Iago makes a pointed reference to his beard. As the love-sick, not-too-bright Roderigo, Richard Easton indulges in the right amount of humor, even incorporating a few Harpo Marxian mannerisms. He properly appears with clean face at the beginning of the play; but, after Iago tells him to disguise his baby-face and increase the manliness of his appearance with "an usurped beard," he should of course don false whiskers for the rest of the drama...