Othello at Theatre Royal Haymarket Review
David Harewood (Othello) and Toby Jones (Iago) in Othello. Photo by Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
Written by Jasmine for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Othello is not an easy play to watch or an easy play to do; Tom Morris’s production manages to walk the line between the discomfort and the irresistible drama of this chilling Shakespeare. It is a deftly told story full of beauty, drama, and sheer horror that will remind you why this story holds such an immovable place in the canon. It remains the tragedy you can’t look away from.
In this production that is truer than ever, it is both gorgeously designed and expertly performed. You’d be pressed to find a better casting than this - this cast alone is enough reason not to miss this production. Reprising the role of Othello almost 30 years after being the first black man to perform the role for the National Theatre in 1997, David Harewood speaks Shakespeare like it is second nature, bringing depth and a gravitational stage presence to every moment he is onstage. You don’t agree with Othello’s actions, of course, but you can feel a sense of the past that made him vulnerable to Iago. Caitlin Fitzgerald’s Desdemona is the bright, funny, complex light of the play - the love that Othello and Desdemona feel for each other feels so rich and true that it seems to cast a glow on everything around them, the way it needs to if the rest of the play is to work. The relationship with Cassio (Luke Treadaway), too, is beautifully brought to life - their closeness feels natural, unassailable - until Iago comes along.
Toby Jones is the perfect casting for Iago. He is terrifying, but also unnervingly funny. You can see why the other characters trust him, even as the audience audibly groans every time he’s described as ‘honest’. There’s something almost pantomime-like about the way this production, more than any I’ve seen, makes the audience audibly react to the irony - almost shouting ‘he’s behind you!’ - which is just how a Shakespeare should feel. This is heightened by Tom Byrne’s silly dandy-ish portrayal of Roderigo that brings a much needed lightness to the show, even if you don’t agree with his actions.
His counterpart, Vinnette Robinson’s Emilia, is crucial to this production - becoming the character that I think you feel most aligned with by the end, the one person who can speak the truth to the murderous men around her. In fact, what I loved about this production was the way it dealt with the fact that this is a play about men murdering their wives. It doesn’t forget the importance of their humanity, their friendship, their right to be full, complex people, the way that their husbands do. You see a similar approach throughout the story; for example, though Luke Treadaway’s Cassio is noble and endearing, he comes across as a bit of a dick when he talks about Bianca behind her back, because Rose Riley’s Bianca is so fun and earnest that you feel you would be mates with her.
Really, no one on stage doesn’t do a brilliant job - every moment finds clarity, depth, and a sense of history that expands the world of the play, allowing us to fill in their past or the moments we don’t see the characters with our imaginations. For example, Jude Owusu’s Lodovico appears only a couple of times and says little, but his interactions with Othello give you such a sense of shared history that his reaction to Othello’s change when he arrives in Cyrprus had a real impact on me.
The set, too, leaves space for the imagination without compromising on a sense of scale or beauty. TI Green’s set and costume are simple but memorable - using a few large structures to reference location and playing with how they can be moved or projected onto in order to suggest space changes. One of the only pieces of furniture we actually see on set is the bed in the second act. PJ Harvey’s music and John Nicholls’s sound design completes the world of the show, supporting both the sense of high drama and emotional reality to gorgeous effect.
I came to this show knowing that I find Othello a difficult watch, and came away feeling this was one of the best, most consistently well-executed Shakespeare adaptations I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t reinvent the play; it doesn’t need to - rather, it reminds you why this is such an impactful, important play in the first place.
Plays until 17 January 2026
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
