From Baltimore to the Bard – Wire co-stars in epic tragedy

A YEAR ago artistic director Daniel Evans caused a bit of a splash by enticing Life on Mars star John Simm to play Hamlet at the Crucible.

It seemed a sure fire way of getting bums on seats and so it proved. It could have been a tough act to follow but such is Evans’s reputation in the theatre world that he was able to attract not just one, but two, big names for his new production of Shakespeare’s Othello.

By having Clarke Peters in the titular role and getting Dominic West to play the villainous Iago, Evans was not only tapping into the popularity of US crime drama The Wire, in which they both starred, he was getting two actors who knew each other’s working habits inside out.

Evans was well aware of the acting pedigree of both men – he knew West from their days at drama school (West was a year below him at the Guildhall drama school) and was impressed by Peters’ performances in Guys and Dolls and Howard Davies’ production of The Iceman Cometh.

“If you sat me down and said, ‘ok, if you could get anyone in the world for this, who would you want?’ I would say Clarke and Dominic. So to get them both is fantastic. They have this shared history, not only through their career, but also as friends,” he says. Getting them on board wasn’t the hard part.

“The most difficult thing was because they’re so busy we had to find a gap in their schedules that would allow them to do it. But the idea appealed to both of them; they have a connection with this theatre having worked here before.”

The pair forged a close bond during the five years they lived and worked cheek by jowl while filming The Wire, although this has been put to the test because of the limited amount of time they’ve had to rehearse. “It was very difficult – for three weeks we were rehearsing during the day and Dominic was performing at night [in a revival of Simon Gray’s Butley] down in London, which was very demanding on him,” admits Evans.

“But the fact they have this working shorthand together benefits the play because Iago has to come across as an honest friend to Othello and they can both draw on all kinds of experiences they’ve had together from their days in Baltimore.”

The play itself is a compelling story of prejudice, jealousy and human fallibility. “It’s an epic play with so many facets to it,” says Evans. “For me it’s a psychological thriller, but normally with tragedies Shakespeare tends to deal with Kings and Queens or Princes. Hamlet was a prince, Macbeth was a would-be king and Cleopatra was a queen. But although Othello is a general this is a domestic tragedy and it’s a journey into the depths of despair,” he says.

“Iago has to assume so many different characters and feelings. At times he is the embodiment of evil but Othello has to believe that Iago is a loyal and honest friend. There is humour and wit as well as despair and you find yourself both laughing and recoiling.”

Evans, who studied the play at school, says there was a pragmatic reason for staging Othello. “It’s never been done at the Crucible so it’s the debut of a 408 year-old play here.”

But with big challenges come big expectations. “It’s one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays and it’s almost impossible to obliterate those ghosts.

“But you treat it like a new play and once you get to work with the designers and the actors those ghosts are diminished somewhat.”

Othello runs at the Crucible, Sheffield, to October 15. For tickets call 0114 249 6000, or go online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

The challenge of Othello

Clarke Peters is the latest in a long, and illustrious, line of actors who have found the challenge of playing Othello impossible to resist.

Orson Welles played the title role in a 1952 film version which he also directed and produced. It proved one of the great auteur’s more complicated shoots (which is saying something), filmed over a three year period.

In 1964, Laurence Olivier won plaudits for his acclaimed performance of Othello at the Royal National Theatre.

More recently in 2007, Chiwetel Ejiofor played Othello against Ewan McGregor’s Iago, producing a memorable performance.

Two years ago, Lenny Henry surprised many sceptics with his Shakespearian debut in Barrie Rutter’s production at West Yorkshire Playhouse.