What happens when you take Shakespearean Tragedy and mix it up with the tensions and insecurities of film noir?
Orangutan Productions bring you their premier show, a gritty and breathless drama, exhilarating, relevant and sure to linger in the mind long after it is over.
Fear, mistrust, loss of innocence, and paranoia are readily evident in the noir genre – and there are few playwrights whose work fits so perfectly when transposed into that setting. The criminal, violent, hard-boiled, or greedy perspectives of anti-heroes in film noir were a metaphoric symbol of society's evils – this was coupled with a strong undercurrent of moral conflict, purposelessness and an acutely strong sense of injustice.
Full cast includes Stefan Adegbola (Michael Grandage Company), West End regular Peter Lloyd, Gillian Saker (Ripper Street, Misfits) and Andrew Lewis (Holby City 2000 - 2010).
Othello, with its turbulent hierarchical world in which power and position make the highest prize, sits perfectly within the ambience of anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion of the film noir period.
When one man's ambition fails, he exacts his twisted, jealous vengeance under the guise of love and loyalty. Angels will fall and devils will soar.
Seductive and inviting, yet low-key, with lighting and set design evocative of the classic flim noir black-and-white visual style, Orangutan do away with well worn pre-conceptions of the play and embrace how well it fits with much of the attitude of classic noir - derived from the hardboiled school of American crime fiction.
Orangutan Productions are a brand new and ambitious company, aiming to fill a niche of high-quality, off-west end Shakespeare in London. They aim to appeal to new audiences through highly stylised (portrayal) productions alongside cinematic marketing trailers, and pre-show workshops, to introduce and excite students about the beauty of classical theatre.
Othello will be at Riverside Studios, in Crisp Road, Hammersmith, from January 15 to February 18. Tickets are £16/£14 concessions and available from www.riversidestudios.co.uk or by calling 0208 237 1111.
