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Othello

Botanic Garden, Glasgow

Four stars

 

The Union Jack may not be everywhere in Gordon Barr’s new look at Shakespeare’s tragedy of jealousy and deceit, but it certainly makes its presence felt. This is the case whether on the camouflaged shoulders of the men of action who either engineer or become victims of macho power plays, or on the locker room doors where all their inner secrets are kept.

 

This is the world in which Manasa Tagica’s Othello has made it big, a black migrant success story who leads his men to victory, but who is never quite one of the gang. His marriage to Desdemona, Esme Bayley’s well to do white girl whose parents expected more of her, only serves to ramp up an inherent institutionalised racism even more. This is the thin line that provokes Adam Donaldson’s Iago to manipulate his way to destruction as he feeds misinformation, gossip and rumour to his boss, driving him demented enough to seek revenge of his own while Iago pulls the strings. 

 

Performed in the Kibble Palace, this is Barr’s third look at the play since 2007, when it was the first Bard in the Botanics show to be staged in the Kibble. This five actor version may be a similarly up close and personal affair as Donaldson’s spiteful Iago provokes mayhem. Take a step back and look at the bigger picture, however, and the fake news Iago is peddling has far greater consequences. Next thing you know, there’ll be masked thugs marching to take their country back and crazed would be assassins wielding machetes on city centre streets. In this respect, Shakespeare’s play becomes both a private tragedy and public portent of things to come. 

 

With support from James Steffan as the guileless Cassio who gets caught in the crossfire, and Isabelle Joss doubling up as Iago’s brutalised wife Emilia and Desdemona’s upper crust mum Brabantio, there is an urgent gallop to Barr’s interval free production that heightens its serious intent. 

 

The only thing that leaves you wondering is why someone as smart as Othello falls for something so obviously contrived as Iago’s big lie. But then, in today’s world of online disruptors who do similar every day, this is a question that could be asked of us all.


The Herald, June 29th 2026

 

Ends 

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