Othello by William Shakespeare, at the Shakespeare Theater

Starring Avery Brooks (Captain Benjamin Sisko from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).

This was probably the best production of Othello I've ever seen. Brooks's performance is solid, but the real stand-outs were Iago (Patrick Page) and Emilia, Iago's wife (Lise Bruneau). Page's Iago is less cerebral and more visceral than most of the Iago's I've seen. Iago is often played as a cold, calculating character with inscrutable motives. In this production, one almost believes his stated motivations. Bruneau's Emilia is given a much fuller characterization here than in many productions.

Of course, there's always a downside to making Iago so interesting: the character of Othello shrinks, to a large extent, when Iago grows. Because if Iago is the focus of a production, then Othello comes off just as a victim of Iago's scheme, just one more pawn to be manipulated by Iago. Othello's downfall is caused both by his own faults and by Iago; but when Iago is this smart and engaging, Othello's faults tend to swamp his virtues on stage.