An ambitious one-man show, in which Martin Aukland, as Iago, acts out single-handedly the story of his machinations against The Moor of Venice, outlining how and why he sets up a trap into which his victim falls headlong.Shakespeares original is a multi-layered work which takes the power of speech to influence and manipulate to its limits and beyond. Auklands characters are credible, on the whole, apart from Othellos accent, and the adaptation of the script, which keeps the main characters main speeches, with Aukland playing all of them, well-crafted.With a powerful narrative that depends so much on delivery and perception of words, the onus on the performers in a conventional production to bring to life the silences between the words is great. Even more so in a one-man show. Auklands performance almost gets there. I really believed that Othello was strangling Desdemona towards the end. Up to then, I found it more difficult to imagine the presence of the other characters.The minimalistic setting and well-chosen sound effects were atmospheric and worked very well. Shakespeare-lovers will not be disappointed with this original and compelling version of Othello. Familiarity with the original is essential in order to appreciate this version.
