For the culture vultures out there, one of the worst-kept secrets would be the series of National Theatre Live screenings that go on monthly at the Ayala Greenbelt cinema. The round of Shakespeare performances began with Othello just the other week, and on April 30, we have King Lear, and on May 28, Hamlet. And before you leave this paragraph, know that while these may be filmed performances from some years back, they’ve been regarded as signature, if not landmark, contemporary interpretations. King Lear will have Ian McKellan portraying the family despot in modern dress, while Hamlet has no other than Benedict Cumberbatch as the Danish prince with mental health issues. The National Theatre is one of the grandest theatre production houses in the United Kingdom.

I say worst-kept secrets, as during the Othello screening, both Issa and I were pleased and surprised to bump into so many theater friends who made it a point to catch these presentations. Yes, they’re filmed as live stagings, inclusive of the intermission; but the multiple cameras set-up allow our eye to ‘roam’, and feel like we’re closer to the action than if we were physically seated in a West End theater. Little add-ons like a host introducing the National Theatre and tonight’s performance, plus fireside chats with the Director and resource people, add texture to the viewing experience. I, for one, appreciated these bonus elements.

Back to Othello and how this adaptation, directed by Clint Dyer, was a brilliant exploration of current issues about misogyny and systemic racism via a period drama/tragedy set in Venice. Giles Terera took on the title character, Rosy McEwan as Desdemona, Tanya Franks as Emilia, Rory Fleck Byrne portraying Michael Cassio, and at the true center of this play, the brilliant Paul Hilton as Iago.

At the center, anyone who has watched Othello will know that while Othello is the title of the tragedy, the one who truly fascinates us for being such a scheming, manipulative, envious courtier is Iago. He discloses from the outset how he’s double-faced, hates Othello for being a Moor and still the favorite of the Duke, and has even the audacity to marry the daughter of an Italian nobleman… a Caucasian woman lying in bed with this dark-skinned heathen. Iago plots to bring Othello down, and our fascination is with how easy it is to put suspicion of his wife in the mind of this paragon of virtue.

In one stroke, Shakespeare offers commentary on the mental frailty of man, the psyche of the outsider, and observations on how often women are subjugated into stereotypical roles, virgin and/or seducer, by men. As has been often said about the Bard, the genius is in how, even if it’s written in Elizabethan times, his lines reveal so much about human nature and that these universal truths still apply to these days.

Someone commented, ‘Poor Venice’. If not discriminating against Jews, as in Merchant of Venice, then they’re persecuting Moors. Why this dim view of the Italian city and its people? Perhaps it has to do with how much easier it was for Shakespeare to make his audiences laugh, cry, or reflect if the subject seemed far from home and hype up how these ‘foreigners’ are so different. Then, the subtlety of asking how so different we are can come into play and not have the audiences becoming so defensive right away.

We see this in how Verona, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer, Measure, Taming, Tempest, and so on are situated in Italy, or in the case of Hamlet, on the continent. Only the History plays, and Merry Wives of Windsor are set in England.

I look forward to King Lear next month and Hamlet in May. I hope this series continues, and I wish there were more than one screening! Thank you, Ayala Greenbelt.