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I am not what I am.
This almost-koan, spoken by Iago, comes a mere 64 lines intoOthello.
But reputations, of course, can change.
That guy everyone thinks is so honest?
Turns out hes a serial liar.
The dashing gentleman youve just made your right-hand man?
Hes a drunk and a fool.
The upright, loyal woman you love?
Well, she lied to her father when she was dating you, so how can you trust her?
If nothing around you is reliable, how can you trust yourself?
InOthello, everything becomes increasingly unstable.
Iago attacks the audiences certainties around motivation, evidence, the reliability of the senses, and even language.
Yet this aspect of its greatness is nearly impossible to stage effectively.
Actors cannot play being a mystery, and a directors entire job is to make interpretational choices.
Even when threatened, he smiles with bemusement, seemingly invulnerable.
Othellos other major question, of course, is why Iago decides to destroy Othello in the first place.
Here, the productions resolute practically bares wonderful fruit in Corey Stolls performance as Iago.
Stoll instead takes Iagos justifications seriously.
Stolls Iago is a revelation.
It turns out to be a warning, of course.
That makes this version ofOthellodown to earth but, thanks to the skill of all involved, hardly earthbound.
Othellois at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park through June 24.
