Critics have been left outraged after discovering Othello has gone woke.
A new version of William Shakespeare’s iconic play has flipped the script leaving viewers aghast.
The play, directed by Ola Ince, reimagines the iconic story as a study of racism in the Metropolitan Police taking place on the streets of London rather than Venice.
While the production has received broadly positive reviews, some critics have accused it of “imposing too many ideas”.
The reviewer for Time Out said the play gets “hopelessly tangled up in itself” and that over the course of the production it “loses steam”.
What’s On Stage added: “At times it seems to buckle under its ambition, straining to answer all of the urgent and important questions it raises.”
One of the most scathing reviews of the play has come from the Times which gave it two stars and said: “Ince’s desire to make the piece more accessible still leads to some jarring moments.”
Aware of the potential impact of the play on audiences, the website for the production issues warnings for the audience before they attend. They said: “Content guidance: The play contains issues of domestic abuse, misogyny, anti-black racism and offensive language.
“The play also contains violence, including murder, references to suicide, and scenes of a sexual nature.”
They added: “This production features the use of stage blood and weapons (including prop guns, tasers, knives and batons), flashing lights and loud gunshots.”
Part of the reason for these warnings is down to how the play deals with the topic of racism in the Metropolitan Police. The Mail reported that the racism in this version of Othello is clear and that the main character hears comments on police radios.
Furthermore, in contrast to other versions of the famous play, there is a second Othello who is there to represent the main character’s “subconscious self”.
Despite criticism from some quarters that the play has made Othello woke, it has been praised by the Evening Standard and Guardian.
The Evening Standard said it “transposed with depressing ease from 16th century Venice”.
Furthermore, the Guardian’s four-star review added that it “coheres well with the world of Shakespeare’s play and carries the chilling echoes of a Met still grappling with institutionalised racism and misogyny within its ranks”.
