Evil ways Mixed Magic’s illuminating Othello BY JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ
	Othello By William Shakespeare. Directed by Peter Sampieri. With Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, Jessie Wortham, Clint Newman, Malik McMullen, and Ginger Eckert. Presented by Mixed Magic Theatre at Blackstone Park in Providence August 5 through 8 at Blackstone Park, Providence, and at Fort Adams in Newport August 19 through 22.

The thing about Shakespeare is that his plays, particularly the tragedies and histories, are so dense with psychological information that you could see a play for the tenth time and still pick up a new clue to the characters’ motivations. What most of us remember about Othello is the evil manipulation of Othello by his ensign Iago. But each time we think back to this tale, we ask ourselves, what did Iago have against Othello? And how could Othello have been so vulnerable to Iago’s wiles?

In the Mixed Magic Theatre production at the North Kingstown Beach, answers to these questions are illuminated in different ways than we might previously have considered. A prologue to Shakespeare’s opening scene is transposed from a later monologue so Othello and Desdemona’s courtship and marriage is front-and-center before we first hear Iago’s plotting with Roderigo, one of the other characters whom he bends to his will. Othello (Ricardo Pitts-Wiley) tells Desdemona (Jessie Wortham) of his youth, and it is brought to life by younger actors, wherein we see him kidnapped from his mother, his enslavement, his victory over his captors, and his own rise to the rank of general.

Trinity Rep Conservatory grad Peter Sampieri directs this production with a steady and sure hand, drawing out terrific performances from his cast and shaping the whole (such as the adaptation described above) so our focus is riveted on the characters and what they will do next. "Oh, no," we want to cry out to Cassius, "don’t get drunk as Iago is coaxing you to do." Or: "Othello, cool off and think about what’s really going on — don’t kill Desdemona!" When a 400-year-old drama can involve its audience so thoroughly that they’re still hoping for a change of heart in the characters, you know something is going right.

And though it takes a couple of scenes for the actors to find their footing, that happens very quickly, primarily because Clint Newman, as Roderigo, is so humorously engaging, and because Vince Petronio, as Iago, is, initially, so cunningly charming, which is totally appropriate to his character. The way in which Iago draws us into his schemes is similar to the charisma he exerts over the others around him. That’s a fine line to walk as an actor, and Petronio pulls it off.

Sure, we understand Iago’s resentment of Othello, because Othello promotes Cassio (Malik McMullen) to be his lieutenant instead of Iago. But Iago also believes that Othello might have bedded his wife Emilia (Ginger Eckert). So Iago has a seething and psychotic rage against Othello, and he will use, abuse, and kill anyone who can help him carry out his revenge. He’s the master manipulator, not just of Othello, but of the lovesick Roderigo, whom he eggs on to murder Cassio. He gets Cassio drunk and ensnares him to say things that add fuel to the fire of Othello’s suspicions about Desdemona’s alleged infidelity with Cassio (originally drummed up by Iago). And Iago all but bribes his wife to bring him Desdemona’s handkerchief.

Ah, yes, the fateful handkerchief. Iago understands, as Shakespeare did, that the handkerchief, given as a love token to Desdemona by Othello, has an even stronger hold on Othello than its romantic function. Othello’s father had given it to his mother and his mother to him. It is the only physical link to a childhood from which he was wrenched, the only thing not torn away from him, a security blanket of sorts.

When he explains all of this to Desdemona, after she has lost the handkerchief, she exclaims that she wishes he’d never given it to her if it meant so much to him. Of course, she doesn’t realize at first that Othello’s reason for questioning her about it is that Iago has told him that Cassio now has it.

This scene, between Othello and Desdemona, is one of the strongest for Pitts-Wiley and Wortham. Pitts-Wiley gets across Othello’s multi-layered anguish, feeling betrayed and abandoned by Desdemona but also still haunted by the traumatic events of his youth. Having endured so many long years of not trusting anyone, Othello’s falling in love with Desdemona was bound to be fraught with obsession. The irony, of course, is that he’s vulnerable once again to deceit, that he doesn’t trust the right people.

Wortham is also quite remarkable in the pre-bedtime scene with Eckert, in which she shares her fears of Othello turning murderous and sings a song she learned from her mother’s maid, who met a similar fate. As Cassio, McMullen turns in as solid and credible a performance as the others, whether joking with his mistress or pleading his case before Othello.

The larger cast includes another half-dozen actors and drummer Abdul Mateen, whose percussive punctuations are always subtle but quite effective. There were times in the bayside setting, however, when Mateen was competing with the rhythmic pounding of the surf right behind him (particularly evocative in Desdemona’s final scene, as if we hear her loudly beating heart) or the swirling whoosh of wind through the trees. Such mood-setting from Mother Nature is one of the pluses with outdoor Shakespeare programs. The multi-leveled stage of bare boards with tiki lamps (designed by Alicia Walcott) works well in its understatement. And the sparkle and glint in the women’s dresses, as well as in Othello’s majestic robe (costumes designed by Marilyn Salvatore) are a feast for the eyes against that plainness.

But Othello: The Moor of Venice is anything but plain, as this production makes abundantly clear. Sampieri and crew allow audience members to identify new threads in this familiar story and to make new connections to it. And that’s what keeps us coming back to the Bard.