Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – OTHELLO and DISGRACED: The moment illuminated through a dialogue between two Washington, DC productions

• By drediman
• May 20, 2016
• No Comments

One of the great virtues of theater is its inextricable relationship with the here and now, as well as with theatrical tradition and legacy.  Unlike “recorded” genres, like film, the performing arts exist only within the moment. As such, a performance’s potency can only be measured by how it strongly engages contemporary issues and sensibilities. At the same time, the success of a performance is also dependent upon leveraging what’s come before in the art form. This spring in Washington, DC, this dual notion was validated by two very good productions, Arena Stage’s Disgraced and Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Othello.

Currently playing at the gleaming Arena Stage in the southwest quadrant of our nation’s capital is Ayad Akhtar’s searing Disgraced (RECOMMENDED), a Pulitzer Prize winner for drama in 2013. Timothy Douglas’s solid production marks the local premiere of the play (and the third distinct staging of it I’ve seen), which is in essence a sort of update of Shakespeare’s Othello. The play depicts Amir, a well-to-do corporate lawyer who has vehemently shed his Muslim identity in order to achieve financial and social success in the United States. For Amir, this comes at a cost, unfortunately. Over the course of ninety hard-hitting minutes, Amir loses everything he’s worked so hard for – the American wife, the fancy job – just like his forebear Othello.  The brilliance of Mr. Akhtar’s beautifully constructed play (really, there’s not an inch of fat on its frame) is how effortlessly and convincingly it updates the sexual and racial politics of Shakespeare’s play to our times. Amir and his deep-seated identity issues are very much constructs of today’s world.

Earlier this spring, Washington, DC’s venerated Shakespeare Theatre Company staged a muscular mounting of Othello (RECOMMENDED), which portrayed its title character as a converted Muslim (played forcefully by actor Faran Tahir). Whether this decision was directly inspired by the artistic success of Mr. Akhtar’s Disgraced remains in the dark (I’d love to pick director Ron Daniels brain!). What’s clear, however, is that Mr. Daniels has looked to current events and the state of the arts – which may or may not encompass Disgraced – to inform his staging of Othello. Indeed, some of the unspoken directorial touches make this Othello just as contemporary and urgent as Mr. Akhtar’s celebrated play. For example, at an important juncture in the play, we see Othello via Mr. Tahir reverting back to his Muslim roots by kneeling and repeatedly bowing as if in prayer. Although this wordless sequence may not have been specifically in Shakespeare’s mind when he wrote the tragedy, it’s a strong example of theater building upon tradition and its own legacy to engage the moment and create something new.

DISGRACED
Regional, Play
Arena Stage (Washington, DC)
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through May 29

OTHELLO
Regional, Play
Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, DC)
2 hours, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Closed