Frantic Assembly's acclaimed production of Othello heads to York Theatre Royal

The production is firmly rooted in the 21st century with the company combining its renowned physicality with the Bard’s muscular text to present an explosive account of what happens when Othello’s passion for Desdemona becomes the catalyst for betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents. In our modern world of fake news and alternative realities where the boundary between truth and lies are constantly being blurred and the opportunities for manipulation by the cynical are rife, the story of Othello could not be more resonant.

“It feels very urgent, timely and relevant to today,” says Joe Layton who is playing the part of Iago, Othello’s right-hand man. “This production is really powerful and at times quite shocking – it doesn’t pull any punches and it taps into the primal human passions of sex, survival and revenge.”

Iago is furious about being overlooked for promotion and so begins plotting his revenge against his General, Othello. He manipulates him into believing that his loving wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. Allowing his jealousy to consume him, Othello becomes increasingly paranoid and irrational which eventually leads to an act of violence and a tragic ending. “Quite often Iago is seen as a motiveless villain who is pure evil but as an actor you can’t judge and you have to find a way of empathising and understanding why the character is the way he is,” says Layton. “For me it has been really interesting exploring all that. I think Iago is actually a man who is deeply hurt and doesn’t have the support around him to work through that. He feels that he has been let down by his friends and his family, that he has been betrayed multiple times. And that makes him a man who has nothing to lose. He does terrible things in our production – all born out of lies and deceit. He believes what he does is warranted because of the way that he has been treated.”

Layton, who grew up in Ilkley, saw Frantic Assembly’s first production of Othello back in 2008 as a teenager at the Lowry in Salford on a school trip when he was a pupil at Bradford Grammar School. It is not an overstatement to say that the experience changed his life. “Shakespeare is on the syllabus for everyone, as it should be, but I found it really challenging and difficult in school and I didn’t necessarily have the patience to want to understand it but when I saw this production of Othello – it was a seminal moment for me,” he says. “I completely fell in love with Frantic and I thought I would do anything to work with them.” The company had just set up Ignition, a development programme for young people aged 16-24. “At that time, they were looking to bring together a group of young men who were interested in theatre or movement or sport and had transferable skills to see what they could create with them within the space of a week.” He applied, was accepted and loved his time working on the project. “It was the springboard for me to go on to train and try to make a living as an actor.” He got a part in Nicolai Foster’s production of Animal Farm at what was then the West Yorkshire Playhouse and joined the National Youth Theatre. He went on to study at the Drama Centre in London and has worked “pretty consistently” since leaving drama school, appearing on television in series such as Casualty, The Young Wallander and Father Brown.

After a successful run of TV work, for which he is grateful, he is however delighted to be back on stage – and working with Frantic Assembly again, especially on this particular production. “It is such a full circle moment for me having seen it in 2008. I love being backstage hearing the students and school groups coming to see the show, you can hear the buzz. Then as soon as you get on stage and you know you have got them, you can hear a pin drop. I often think of myself as a 15-year-old seeing Frantic for the first time. It just feels like such a privilege to be taking on a character of this depth and complexity and to be performing back home in Yorkshire with Frantic Assembly – it doesn’t get much better than this.”

At York Theatre Royal, October 18-22.