FRINGE REVIEW: Othello, Desdemona, & Iago Walk into a Bar

I wouldn't trust a director who didn't see the black-walled, retro pin-up dive bar Trestle Inn and say, "I want to do a play here," but that doesn't mean every director should.

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FRINGE REVIEW: Othello, Desdemona, & Iago Walk into a Bar

POSTED: Sunday, September 9, 2012, 2:00 PM

Every year, there's hundreds and hundreds of performances at the Philly Fringe and Live Arts Festival, and unless it's one of the big shows, it's sometimes hard to tell what you're going to get. Here at Critical Mass we're sending writers to as many shows as we possibly can for 75 pocket-sized reviews over the course of the fest. Check back in with us at On The Fringe every day for real talk on what these things actually are!

SHOW: Othello, Desdemona, & Iago Walk into a Bar

GROUP: [ad hoc theatre project]

GENRE: Theater

ATTENDED: Sat., Sept. 8, 6 pm

CLOSES: Sept. 23

BRIEF SELF-DESCRIPTION: What happens when you mix Shakespeare, sex, a go-go bar, & your soul? Mixed & poured by the ensemble, [ad hoc] shakes & serves up your ultimate identity crisis: you have a body that is not always your own; you have a soul that isn’t always known. Add in an interpretation of *Othello* you’ve never seen before & find your one true love: you. Come for the body, stay for the booze, discover the soul.

WE THINK: I wouldn’t trust a director who didn’t see the black-walled, retro pin-up dive bar Trestle Inn and say, “I want to do a play here,” but that doesn’t mean every director should. Mark Kennedy’s meandering meditation on Shakespeare’s Moor of Venice spins its wheels for what feels like an eternity (in a short show) as Big O (Akeem Davis), Miss Double-D’s (Emily Letts), and Ia-go-go (Meredith Sonnen) flail through frenetic dancing and desperate audience-participation before Sonnen cites Iago’s great line, “I am not what I am,” and the last five minutes actually go somewhere. Add poor waitstaff service and you’re left with a sour “this could have been good...” aftertaste.

—Mark Cofta

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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