Other productions

In this section we look at past productions of Othello: Ronald Eyre’s traditional 1979 production; Trevor Nunn’s powerful studio-style 1989 production; and Gregory Doran’s acclaimed 2004 production featuring two South African-born actors.

All productions of Shakespeare have one thing in common: the text. They can differ greatly because each text is open to interpretation and every director and their company makes different interpretative choices in the rehearsal room.

Here we delve into the RSC's archive to give you a snapshot of our creative process behind the productions. You can see previously-unseen production records, reviews, production and rehearsal photos to give you an insight of the depth of work that goes on behind the scenes of an RSC production.

RONALD EYRE'S 1979 PRODUCTION

Othello's silk suit

In addition to the sets, Pamela Howard designed the costumes for the production and here we see the ivory silk suit with grey cloak worn by Donald Sinden as Othello. Complementing Othello, Suzanne Bertish’s Desdemona wore a silver satin dress with grey cloak. Both outfits are part of the RSC Costume Collection which also includes Paul Robeson’s 1959 Othello robe and tunic designed by Loudon Sainthill. Pamela Howard’s period costumes for the 1979 Othello conveyed the differences in status and character in an understated but effective manner. As well as imperial grandeur, the military setting was also referenced, as we see in the next image of Iago’s costume.

 

Designed by Pamela Howard © Pamela Howard Browse and license our images

Reflecting on love

“I called my love false love, but what said he then? Desdemona, Act 4 Scene 3

This production photo shows Desdemona (Suzanne Bertish) singing the melancholy Willow Song as she prepares to retire for the night. Next to her stool is an ornate Venetian-style mirror, on the top of which a cupid-like figure kneels. The symbolism suggests that love is praying or is it being restrained? Possibly an ominous reminder of what is about to happen in the play. Suzanne Bertish and Susan Tracy played Desdemona and Emilia more like close confidants than the usual counterpoint of young, inexperienced, wife versus experienced, disillusioned, one. These women were a minority in an alienating, macho, military world. Many critics commented on Bertish’s gutsy and intelligent debut performance for the RSC, which B A Young likened to “Joan of Arc”, Financial Times, 8 August 1979.

 

Photo by Reg Wilson © RSC Browse and license our images

A great hearted Othello

“Heaven keep the monster from Othello’s mind!” Desdemona, Act 3 Scene 4

During his long career, Donald Sinden (1923-2014) played an amazing range of roles in the subsidised and commercial theatre and was equally comfortable in comedy and tragedy. He was the last RSC actor to play Othello by ‘blacking-up’ (applying skin-darkening make-up), a practice that today would be considered controversial. Critics noted his clear verse speaking and the conviction with which he conveyed the ecstasy of jealousy, especially when he emptied Desdemona’s laundry basket, sniffing the sheets for traces of her ‘lover’. In this production photo, the tormented Othello clasps Desdemona (Suzanne Bertish), the agony of domestic tragedy etched all over his face. Some reviewers considered it a histrionic performance but Eric Shorter summed up Sinden’s Othello as “great of heart”, Daily Telegraph, 9 August 1979.

 

 

Photo by Reg Wilson © RSC Browse and license our images

Iago's costume design

“Lobbing insinuations like poisoned duck-feed” Steve Grant, Observer, 12 August 1979

Contrasting with the elegant costumes of the Venetian hierarchy was Iago’s sober, plain, no-nonsense uniform. In this costume design sketch by Pamela Howard, the decoration is confined to vertical leather shoulder strips, silver buttons and a chevron on the chest. The only accessories are practical military ones: a belt with dispatch pouch, a dagger and high boots. The unembellished uniform reflected Bob Peck’s bluff Iago, who was a tough professional ensign (standard-bearer), the lowest rank of commissioned officer. Michael Billington described Peck’s Iago as a “snickering demon”, Guardian, 8 August 1979, and noted the sinister interdependence between Othello and Iago.

 

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust; design © Pamela Howard Browse and license our images

Handing over the handkerchief

“What handkerchief?
Why, that the Moor first gave to Desdemona.
That which so often you did bid me steal.” Emilia, Act 3 Scene 3

Here we see how Pamela Howard’s design for Iago’s uniform was realised in production. Gone are the chest chevron and suspended pouch but otherwise the design is faithful to the original concept, seen in the previous image. This production photo shows a key moment in the play when Emilia gives her husband, Iago, the special handkerchief, which Desdemona has dropped inadvertently. Iago uses this handkerchief to incriminate Cassio and Desdemona, thereby inflaming Othello’s jealous rage. Critics noted that Susan Tracy was a younger Emilia than usual and nearer to Desdemona in age. The photo suggests a lack of tenderness between the couple, as Iago snatches the handkerchief away from his abused wife.

 

Photo by Reg Wilson © RSC Browse and license our images

Directing Othello

In this rehearsal image we see Ronald Eyre (1929-1992) who, in 1989, directed the RSC’s first staging of Othello since John Barton’s 1971 production. For Eyre, the job of director was all about creating an atmosphere in rehearsal where actors could make the play work. He disliked what he described as directors ‘showing off’ at the expense of the play. His production of Othello opened at the Royal Shakepeare Theatre on 6 August 1979, before transferring to Newcastle-upon-Tyne and London the following year. In the programme Eyre said that when he put the play to his ear he could hear the sea, a motif that was echoed in Pamela’s Howard’s set design, which Michael Billington described as consisting of “a grating stone floor” with “at the back six huge strips of wood that suggest some sea-reflecting wharf”, Guardian, 8 August 1979.

 

Photo by John Haynes © John Haynes Browse and license our images

Stephen Oliver's score for the Willow Song

"Sing willow, willow, willow" Desdemona, Act 4 Scene 3

Music is an important element in Othello, both in the songs in the play but also in the lyricism of the verse. The composer Stephen Oliver created a score that ranged from ‘tafelmusik’ (the German word for table-music, traditionally played at feasts from the 16th century) to ceremonial fanfares for the arrival of the Venetians. Oliver emphasized character and the structure of text in the Cannikin Song, King Stephen, the Clown’s tune and the haunting Willow Song, seen above, which Desdemona sings in Act 4 Scene 3. A wide range of instruments played the score including a spinet, flute, piccolo, recorder, oboe, cor anglais, bassoon, crumhorn, horn, trumpet, trombone, timpani and percussion. The live music was supplemented by recorded voices and sound effects created by John A Leonard and Roland Morrow. The Stephen Oliver Collection at the British Library contains manuscripts and papers of the composer relating to this production and others. 

 

 

Music by Stephen Oliver © Stephen Oliver Browse and license our images

A model Venetian palace

In this model box for Act 1 Scene 3, we see designer Pamela Howard’s proposed set for the council chamber in the Duke’s Palace. Bronze pivoted screens were placed in front of six huge wooden planks at the back of the stage and in front of them the Venetian lion topped a single ornamental arch, conveying military and imperial power. Critics commented that as the production progressed, the walls seem to close in, adding to the claustrophobic atmosphere. The 1980 BBC 2 television documentary ‘In the Making’ featured Pamela Howard’s collaboration with director Ronald Eyre on this production. Since 1960 Pamela Howard has designed over 250 productions worldwide and is the author of ‘What is Scenography?’ Routledge, 2009.

 

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images
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TREVOR NUNN'S 1989 PRODUCTION

A "hellish villain"

“Ramrod-back, swinging arms and Northern consonants” Michael Billington, Guardian, 26 August 1989

For many reviewers, the lynchpin of the production was Ian McKellen’s Iago, a seasoned professional soldier “constantly attending to people and things – mixing punch bowls, applying bandages, mopping brows” Harry Eyres, Times, 26 August 1989. In this production photo, he can be seen ‘consoling’ the unhappy and trusting Desdemona. His posture suggests a praying mantis poised to consume its prey. This is no pantomime villain but a complex and fascinating character, full of concealed bitterness and sexual jealousy. In public he is the jovial drinking partner or loyal subordinate and confidante but in private he is consumed with contempt and his relentless pursuit of vengeance.

 

 

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Directing a domestic tragedy

“A production of immense power and grandeur” Harry Eyres, Times, 26 August 1989

In 1989 Trevor Nunn returned to the RSC after a seven year absence to direct an emotionally shattering production of Othello at the small-scale theatre, The Other Place, in Stratford-upon-Avon. After a sell-out season in Stratford, the production opened at London’s Young Vic in November 1989 and was subsequently filmed. Set in the 19th century, Nunn’s production brilliantly combined costumes, sound and lighting to reflect the themes of jealousy, trust, infidelity and deceit. In this rehearsal photo, we see Trevor Nunn (centre), in discussion with Zoe Wanamaker (Emilia) and Ian McKellen (Iago), the award-winning RSC Associate Artist, he has successfully directed in many tragic roles. Nunn imaginatively cast the Jamaican-born American opera star, Willard White, in the title role.

Photo by Richard Mildenhall © Richard Mildenhall Browse and license our images

Music for a Cannakin (small drinking vessel)

Composer Guy Woolfenden was Head of Music at the RSC 1963-1995. Here we see the score of the Cannakin Song, which Iago and the soldiers sing in Act 2 Scene 3, to the accompaniment of a harmonica and concertina. The versatile Woolfenden also composed pastiche hymn tunes which were played off stage helping to create a sense of period and mood. Michael Ratcliffe commented on how the “ambivalent pathos of the regimental cornet disturbs the comfort of the harmonium” Observer, 27 August 1989. The use of a bugle was an effective method of reminding the audience of the military environment.

 

 

 

Music by Guy Woolfenden © Guy Woolfenden Browse and license our images

An operatic Othello

“Matchless power and resonance” Harry Eyres, Times, 26 August 1989

Willard White was the first black actor to play Othello for the RSC and the first in England since Paul Robeson in 1959. A celebrated bass-baritone opera singer, White made his straight theatre debut playing the title role in the production. Ironically, he couldn’t play ‘Otello’ in Verdi’s opera of the same name because that role is sung by a tenor. His resonant speaking voice and imposing stature made him a commanding Othello, so his undermining by the chillingly calculating Iago of Ian McKellen was all the more pitiful. White and Imogen Stubbs (Desdemona) exuded mutual passion, despite their obvious age difference, which director Trevor Nunn considered fundamental to the play. Crucially, Nunn placed the interval at the point when the handkerchief was dropped so when the second half began, any one of four characters could have picked it up. Thus it appeared that Emilia, Iago’s wife, accidentally found the discarded handkerchief , a mischance which had tragic consequences.

 

 

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Dressing Desdemona and Othello

Associate Artist Bob Crowley has designed over 25 productions for the RSC including the 1989 Othello. This image shows Crowley’s costume sketches for Desdemona (Imogen Stubbs) and Othello (Willard White), which reflected the 19th century setting with high-buttoned military tunics for the men and tight fitted bodices with full skirts and shawls for the women. For some of the Cyprus scenes, Imogen Stubbs’ Desdemona wore a military jacket over her dress, reinforcing her position as one of the few women in a male garrison. It also suggested her sense of adventure and independence. Crowley’s strategic use of well-placed furnishings helped convey the different locations of the play. Persian carpets in a smoke-filled room evoked the Venetian Senate while a wall of slatted blinds provided the perfect eavesdropping spot for Othello to spy on Cassio.

 

Designs by Bob Crowley © Bob Crowley Browse and license our images

Drinking party

“Why, then, let a soldier drink” Iago, Act 2 Scene 3

In this production photo, we see Ian McKellen’s Iago playing the military joker and urging his fellow soldiers to drink. Having previously poured several litres of cheap wine into the wash basin, Iago has laced the mixture with strong spirits. Yelling and singing, the increasingly boisterous soldiers scoop out the liquor with their tin mugs, overseen by the devious Iago. The scene reaches a climax when Cassio vomits in a corner, having warned Iago that he has a low tolerance of alcohol. In the background, we can just see one of the camp beds with regulation issue grey blankets, which Iago obsessively tidies. With the strategic placing of a few pieces of furniture and props, the designer Bob Crowley transformed the compact performing area into a claustrophobic barrack room in Cyprus.

 

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Barrack room brawl

“It hath pleased the devil drunkenness to give place to the devil wrath” Cassio, Act 2 Scene 3

The internationally renowned fight director Malcolm Ranson was responsible for stage combat in the production. Here we see an extract from his notes for the ‘Barrack Fight’ which consisted of 51 separate stages. By contrast, the ‘Street Fight’ involved a mere six stages. We also have a list of weapons from the stage manager’s records, which includes various sword types and bayonets “plus one pair of handcuffs adapted for quick release”, the latter presumably used to restrain Iago at the play’s denouement. The fight director is usually involved early on, developing the fight moves in cooperation with the actors and creative team during the rehearsal process. The safety of both the performers and the audience is paramount, so before every performance there is a fight call.

See our behind the scenes video about role of the ‘Fight Captain’.

 

 

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A TOP Othello

“The intimate auditorium turns the audience into embarrassed eavesdroppers” Jack Tinker, Daily Mail, 26 August 1989

The director Trevor Nunn deliberately chose The Other Place to stage his1989 Othello because he felt that its intimacy was better suited to the domestic scale of the play and its emphasis on private relationships. The simple but effective costume and furnishings by Bob Crowley in such a confined space helped to intensify the drama. In 1974, a prefabricated former store/rehearsal room in Stratford-upon-Avon had been transformed by Buzz Goodbody and Trevor Nunn into an exciting experimental small-scale theatre, seating about 100 people. In 1989, the future of The Other Place, pictured above, was in doubt and it was threatened with demolition. However, in 1991 a new purpose-built theatre opened, designed by Michael Reardon. Closed in 2006 to make way for The Courtyard Theatre during the RST’s transformation, a new incarnation of The Other Place will open in 2016.

 

 

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Browse and license our images
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GREGORY DORAN'S 2004 PRODUCTION

Stunning deathbed

Stephen Brimson Lewis designed both the costumes and the sets for the production. At the back of the stage, a wire fence suggested a military garrison, while ceiling fans hinted at the heat of Cyprus. Brimson Lewis’s designs, Gregory Doran’s direction and Tim Mitchell’s lighting combined to stunning effect in the deathbed scene “played out with the soft enclosing cylinder of a mosquito net that cascades down from the full height of the Swan [Theatre]” Pat Ashworth, The Stage, 26 February 2004. In this cocoon-like space, Desdemona’s life was extinguished.

 

Photo Manuel Harlan © RSC Browse and license our images

Floral dress for Desdemona

“A rose waiting to be crushed in this male militarist world” Michael Billington, Guardian, 19 February 2004

A recent drama school graduate, Lisa Dillon was a youthful and affecting Desdemona. Here we see the dress worn by Lisa Dillon on stage, which is preserved in our Collections, together with thousands of other costumes from productions over the ages. Stephen Brimson Lewis’s design comprised a 1940s style floral dress, which highlighted Desdemona’s freshness. The recurring Wisteria-like floral motif suggested a natural, uncorrupted young woman with a sunny disposition. In the Victorian era, wisteria was sometimes regarded as a symbol of obsessive love because the fragrant blueish flowers produced choking growth, like a vine.

 

Photo Manuel Harlan © RSC Browse and license our images

Rehearsing Othello

“Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate.
Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well” Othello, Act 5 Scene 2

In this rehearsal photo, Sello Maake ka-Ncube (Othello) can be seen in discussion with the director, Gregory Doran. Born in Soweto, South Africa, Maake ka-Ncube had previously played Mafusa in a West End production of The Lion King. A majestic figure, Maake ka-Ncube ’s Othello commanded respect but he was also a handsome charmer, which made Desdemona’s infatuation all the more credible. He successfully conveyed the pain and bewilderment of betrayed love as well as the unease of an outsider operating in an alien culture. His dignified noble manner contrasted with the cruder, lower class, professional ensign, Iago, played by Antony Sher.

 

Photo by Peter Coombs © RSC Browse and license our images

Out of Africa

Stephen Brimson’s designs for Othello emphasized the different cultures that he straddled, so Sello Maake ka-Ncube wore either the white military uniform of a British officer or a strikingly decorated African robe. The tawny-patterned, full-length robe, worn by Othello evoked a large predatory African cat like a leopard or cheetah. Significantly, Maake ka-Ncube wore the African beaded necklace under his military jacket, providing a constant connection with his cultural heritage.

 

 

Photo Manuel Harlan © RSC Browse and license our images

Portrait of a marriage

“A brutal NCO, obsessed by race and sex, whose simplest phrases sound lewd and suggestive” Time Out, 9 June 2004

One of the production’s strengths was the way it highlighted the contrasting but interrelated marriages of Othello and Desdemona, and Iago and Emilia. Antony Sher’s psychopathic Iago was consumed with sexual jealousy, which manifested itself in his uneasy relationship with his wife, Emilia. In this production photo, we see how Iago’s hands have slipped around Emilia’s neck as if he would throttle her. This feisty hipflask-swigging Emilia was very much at home in a garrison of men, which stoked Iago’s paranoia. Amanda Harris won an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role Actress for her role as Emilia. Sher’s buttoned-up Iago was also sexually obsessed with Desdemona and at one point rummaged among her clothes in a packing case. Sher successfully captured the complex psychology of Iago and his distinctive behaviour, whether he was standing to attention even when off-duty or consulting his clipboard before planning his next move.

 

 

Photo Manuel Harlan © RSC Browse and license our images

Drinking melody

Adrian Lee composed the music for the production and his use of drum beats to punctuate the scenes greatly enhanced the drama. Lee’s score incorporated ethic music and he played a variety of instruments in the production including percussion, keyboards, mandola and ‘Ud (a string instrument). Here we see his score for the Cannakin Song, during which Iago encourages Cassio to drink more and more. The composer has collaborated with the RSC on many productions including The Comedy of Errors, 1996, which was the focus of the article The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink guide to scoring Shakespeare by Martin Gordon, The Independent, 3 July 1996.

 

 

Music by Adrian Lee © Adrian Lee Browse and license our images

Othello in Japan

Gregory Doran’s gripping 400th anniversary production of Othello opened at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, in February 2004.  Following a sell-out season in Stratford, the production toured for five weeks in Japan and here we see the tour poster. The production then inaugurated the newly refurbished Trafalgar Studio (formerly the Whitehall Theatre) in London. Doran cast two South African-born actors, Antony Sher and Sello Maake ka-Ncube, in the roles of Iago and Othello, which added a new dimension to the culture clash theme in the play. Reviewers also noted how Doran’s attention to detail resulted in every member of the company and every part of the stage bringing the meaning of the play to life. For instance, the handkerchief was clearly visible in Desdemona’s hand from the very beginning of the play.

 

 

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Prompting a drunken brawl

In this extract from the stage manager’s prompt book, we see the text and cues for Act 2 Scene 3 when the soldiers sing the Cannakin song and Cassio becomes increasingly drunk. Director Gregory Doran was commended for his brilliant choreography of this scene, during which Cassio is tossed in a tarpaulin sheet and Iago pours drink down his throat from a petrol can (cue #4). In a novel twist, Emilia joins the carousing soldiers, hands round drinks and even debags Cassio (removes his trousers). The stage manager has left nothing to chance in this complicated scene, as the yellow sticky notes illustrates, so we have alternative scenarios for the drinking cup:

“IF CUP OFF BEFORE PUNCHES, CUP BACK ON HEAD
IF CUP OFF AFTER PUNCH – BUT BEFORE CASSIO – GO U/S [Up Stage] + GET PENALTY DRINK FROM TED/COOK.”

© RSC Browse and license our images
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