Otello at London Coliseum

3.8/5 stars. Great production, though still not completely sold in the English.


London Coliseum - English National Opera.

Though the tickets may be sold out by know, it's good to look out for either the same cast members or creative team in other productions.
Otello - Stuart Skelton
Desdemona - Leah Crocetto
Iago - Jonathan Summers
Conductor - Edward Gardner
Director - David Alden
Designer - Jon Morrell
Movement Director - Maxine Braham
(Other cast and creative team members here)
When I bought the ticket, I didn't check to see if it was in Italian or not, which I should have done. Only wen checking cast members did I see that there was a translator of the libretto. If I saw that the opera was in English before buying the ticket, I would probably have been less hasty, as the seats were selling fast.
I shouldn't have worried at all. Even though I didn't need the surtitles to understand the singers, the language change wasn't nearly as annoying as I'd expected. I'm a bit picky when it comes to librettos - like when choosing wines, you go for what you love, and I would normally always picks Italian operas.
One other thing is rather strange about this production, and that is the fact that Skelton isn't in fact black, so when Iago curses "the moor", it isn't actually him being a racist bastard, it more like an obscure curse word we don't know the meaning of.
Set in Cypress, the set had a very tidy array of props, with a few chairs and tables dramatically thrown and quickly cleared from the stage. The only constant stage prop was an icon resembling the mother Mary. And there was some very interesting placements of this icon - when Iago is talking with Cassio, they throw darts, using the icon as a target. I took this as Iago being a nasty schemer of dastardly plans. When Otello is being particularly manipulated he picks up a chair, which was being used to prop-up the icon, letting it fall on the floor. There really were some clever minds behind this production.
The story itself was well performed and just as captivating as ever.
A thing to check when buying tickets is whether or not the opera is sung in English or not, as other operas such as La Boheme and La Traviata are sung in English.