Othello, Shakespeare's Globe ****

Perhaps my favourite experience of all time was watching my first Shakespeare play. It was in 2010 and I saw the magnificent display of Henry IV part 1 with Roger Allam and Jamie Parker as Falstaff and Prince Hal. I had never realised that Shakespeare could be so funny and, combined with politics and a great battle sequence, cemented my love of te Bard and theatre in general. So how great it was for me to accompany a good friend to his first play. It is a joy to see someone lose that dread of iambic pentameter and all that goes with schools teaching of Shakespeare's plays. The play itself is a heavily cut version of Othello and aimed especially at schoolchildren. This is a daunting task as, as one myself, I know how difficult it is to engage them for two hours without either the audience giving up or the actors. However, if any production can do it, it is certainly this one. It is highly charged and energetic in its telling of the tragic tale, with songs right from the beginning to a charleston dance in place of the traditional jig at the end. The actors are superb in their roles and the design from Hannah Clark wonderfully suits the Globe in transforming it to a battlefield. What was so great is that my newcomer to the world of theatre understood what was going on and has now caught the theatre bug. This is an extremely good start to what I hope to be another successful Globe season.