Othello Returns to West End: Harewood Captivates, Jones’ Iago Shines

David Harewood has ruled screens for decades – and now he has been hailed for his ‘captivating’ return to the stage to reprise his iconic role as Shakespeare’s Othello.

The Homeland actor, 59, was joined by a star-studded cast including The Mr Bates vs The Post Office star Toby Jones, 59, who played his antagonist Iago at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

For David, this is his second go at the role, having previously been the first black actor to play the part at the National Theatre in 1997.

The actor suffered from a psychotic breakdown at 23, which critics say he may have drawn from to recreate Othello’s composed nature that collapses into murder and madness driven by jealousy. 

The duo have been hailed for their ‘stellar performance’, with David branded ‘captivating’ by critics who also have praised Toby as a ‘gleefully malicious Iago’.  

Directed by Tony Award-winner Tom Morris, the female actors of the production have also been praised for their performances of bringing the misogyny of the time to light.

Hollywood star Caitlin FitzGerald, 43, plays Desdemona, while the award winning Vinette Robinson, 43, acts as her maid, Emilia.

The Shakesperean play is a comedic tragedy about Othello, a respected Moorish general in the Venetian army who is manipulated by the envious Iago into thinking his wife, Desdemona, is unfaithful.

This leads Othello to be consumed by jealousy and rage, eventually driven to murder her, and then kill himself when discovering the truth.

However, the reviews are mixed across the board as the play garnered a slew of four and three star ratings. 

The Daily Mail’s Patrick Marmion said in his four star review: ‘Harewood digs deep into his own well-documented experience of psychosis to show how Othello’s easy and assured nature collapses into crazed, murderous credulity.’

‘Until you’ve seen him on stage, you can’t appreciate what a class act he really is,’ he added. 

The Telegraph‘s theatre critic Dominic Cavendish also lauded the play with four stars, praising the actors for their stellar performances’ adding ‘Toby Jones is a gleefully malicious Iago’.

‘The acting makes the evening… We don’t require intrusive lighting rigs in the final scenes, or imposing projected images, or eccentric costuming. When the core cast is as strong as this, less is more; the sparer the better.’

Arifa Akbar wrote in the Guardian that ‘Harewood’s Othello holds your attention with his physical presence and imperial quality, the sniffs, smirks and tics in the lead up to his murderously wounded rage.’

‘He is so captivating to the other characters that they are frozen as he tells of meeting Desdemona at the start. He woos them, and us.’

She also praised Toby and Caitlin for their performances but put her three star review down to the staging, adding: ‘It is pacy and does not probe deeply or seek to connect the play’s manipulations with our era of Trumpian truths and lies.’

For The Times‘ Clive Davis, the stand out for him was the women of the play, insisting Caitlin’s Desdemona ‘remains supremely watchable’ and Vinette ‘makes an assured West End debut as an Emilia who is more than capable of standing up to her other half.’

Caitlin’s performance has even been praised by some of the more skeptical critics who have called her ‘terrific’ and ‘a smooth blend of strength and fearfulness’.

Alice Saville of The Independent said David exuded ‘warmth and dignity’ but was less convinced by Desdemona and Othello’s relationship.

‘There’s a certain chemistry missing from their interactions – it doesn’t feel like this cool Desdemona is so sexually entranced by Othello.’

She added: ‘This staging could do with more moments of lyricism and menace, to capture the insidious nature of the evil that patterns through it. 

‘Instead, it feels like an entertaining but ultimately unpersuasive take on Shakespeare’s story of an arch manipulator.’

Andrzej Lukowski of TimeOut London also bestowed three stars on the performance, hailing Toby as ‘a thoroughly entertaining Iago… He comes across as plainspoken, done to earth, and funny.’

Sara Crompton of What’sOnStage gave a savage two star review, as she called the play ‘doomed’ with its US actress and ‘surface evil’ Iago.

She wrote: ‘Its principal problem is that all its stars seem to be starring in a different version of Shakespeare’s play. Harewood is a tragic hero, a dignified warrior undone by his own vulnerability;

‘Toby Jones, as his nemesis Iago, seems to be playing a stock Medieval villain, all surface evil. And Caitlin Fitzgerald as Othello’s wife Desdemona is American.’ 

‘Every side of this doomed triangle feels as if it is pulling in a different direction.’