The Sacramento Shakespeare Festival held its 25th Anniversary this year, so at William A. Carroll Amphitheatre in William Land Park, the City Theatre at Sacramento City College put on "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Othello". Being a Shakespeare fan, and enjoying both plays, I decided to go and see "Othello". On Thursday night, July 22nd, I drove to Land Park, parked my car next to the zoo, and walked on up the entrance of the theatre. The price was a little high, $15 for students, but I was hoping the play would deliver. The William A. Carroll Amphitheatre has quite a nice atmosphere. As you walk down a stone pathway, on either side of you are green, wooden benches that slope down to the stage surrounded by trees. Once I found my seat, I was quickly reminded of how I wished I had brought a lawn chair. Within 15 minutes, my bum was numb, but at least the play was starting on time. The performance started at 8pm, and as the sun set the Canada Geese and the Crows of Land Park noisily flew to their roosting spots, which made the first few lines a little hard to hear.
 

Overall, I enjoyed myself. The characters and costumes were flashy in flapper outfits, uniforms, and suits. The play was set in the 1920s, which confused me because “Othello” is set in Cypress and Venice. Yet the dancing distracted me from the two-by-four I was sitting on, so I managed to look past this strange use of setting. The actors were enjoyable, however when it came to really translating the text to the theater, I felt a couple elements were missing. For example, Iago, played by Rod Breton, really did not express the hatred for Othello as I would have liked to see. His hate was rather expressed in comedic trickery; maybe he would have been cast well as Puck, from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. However, the transformation of Othello from a devoted, loving husband, to a suspicious, jealous murderer was portrayed incredibly well by Gregory Jolivate. The acting by Jolivate really captured the essence of Othello and added to the essential elements needed to convey Shakespeare’s theme of jealousy. In fact most of the basic themes were covered well in this rendition of “Othello”, but one major element that was missing for me was the theme of prejudice. There was one obvious issue with the casting that distracted me from performance. However another example is how I watched with disappointment, Barbantio (Tim Sapunor), spout out these blatant racists lines in Act 1, but the actor did not truly convey the displeasure of seeing his daughter wed Othello. Actually, he even smiled as he claims his daughter had been stolen from him. It gave a “feel good” feeling to the scene, which to me, was not appealing. These essential elements really add to the overall theme of prejudice that Shakespeare is trying to convey.
 

Despite a few qualms about the character and the painfully uncomfortable green benches, it was refreshing to be outside, in the cool weather, and watch these actors perform one Shakespeare’s great plays. You can tell that the people of City Theatre really do love acting, and it shows in the performance.