SHAKESPEARES NIGGA by Joseph Jomo Pierre (Obsidian/Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson). Runs to February 23. $15-$35. 416-504-7529. See listings. Rating: NNN
Shakespeare’s Nigga is about slavery of the spirit.
Joseph Jomo Pierre‘s often fascinating play promises much, with some strong speeches and familiar characters we know in a different context. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t come together as it should.
Shakespeare (John Jarvis), near the end of his life and in control of all he surveys, has a number of black servants, among them his lieutenant, Othello (Andre Sills), the older Tyrus (David Collins), a seemingly content and obedient attendant, and the intractable Aaron (Pierre), who refuses to bend to Shakespeare’s will. Othello and Aaron are drawn from Shakespeare’s own plays, the latter from Titus Andronicus.
Add Shakespeare’s daughter, Judith (Sascha Cole), who is involved in several ways with Aaron and in turn desired by Othello, and the relationships hold a number of potential explosions.
Pierre’s writing has a poetic, elevated feel that gives Shakespeare’s Nigga a dreamlike quality. Mixing quotes from the Bard – sonnets as well as plays – with his own words, the author looks at what it means to have one’s voice taken away and how best to protest that act.
Director Philip Akin‘s production is a powerful one, the stage filled with passion. The excitement is heightened by the design. Trevor Schwellnus‘s set is often larger than life-size, while Melanie McNeill‘s sometimes fantastical costumes give the show an otherworldly feel.
Jarvis’s performance captures Shakespeare’s irony and condescension nicely. Cole’s Judith begins as a sympathetic figure and then turns hard with the choices she makes also playing the horse that Othello attempts to master, she bring an elegance to the beast.
Sills evolves from a ranking servant who holds himself above others to a man rejected by his master this Othello lacks the cunning of Tyrus, who in Collins’s occasionally comic performance knows exactly when to hold his tongue and when to inflame others.
Pierre’s Aaron should be the most complex of the figures, a beaten-down man whose determination is never destroyed. The actor brings energy and sensuality to the role, but we’re left at the end with an enigmatic figure, which weakens the production’s final moments.
