Othello goes woke! Shakespeare’s Globe reimagines the general as ‘a boy from the estates’ who becomes a Met Police DCI with Iago as his racist deputy – while Desdemona is a Chelsea girl

The Globe theatre has given Othello a modern makeover, with a new production of the Shakespeare classic depicting it as a study of racism in the Met police.

Instead of 16th Century Venice, the new production, directed by Ola Ince, takes place in 2024 London.

Othello, played by Ken Nwosu, is recast from a ‘Moorish’ military commander to a black Detective Chief Inspector in the Met, rising up against the odds in a racist force.

Iago is cast as his sergeant, and instead of being jealous over his love life, he’s upset his ‘guvnor’ was promoted above him. 

The show is advertised as ‘Othello for our times’ and claims to deal with ‘issues successful black people have faced for centuries’.

Critics have said it’s ‘designed to appeal to Jed Mercurio fans’. While some reviews have branded it ‘clever’ and ‘poignant’ others have said Ince has been ‘overambitious about imposing too many ideas on it’.

In the original play, written around 1603, Othello is a ‘Moorish’ military commander who serves as a general in the Venetian army.

He defends Cyprus against an invasion from the Ottoman Turks with his trusted ensign Iago by his side.

But Iago, who is suspicious Othello may have had an affair with his wife Emilia, secretly plots against and destroy him.

However, the retelling sees Iago’s campaign spurred by jealousy because Othello is promoted over him.

In Shakespeare’s telling, Othello secretly married Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian senator. 

Iago stokes Othello’s jealousy to believe Desdemona is cheating on him, until he eventually kills her in a fit of rage. 

While in the original, Othello is a nobleman (albeit not a Venetian one), the new play sees him as ‘a kid from the estates who has triumphed against the odds’.

The racism in the play is overt, Othello overhears comments on police radios, and he is described by his father-in-law as a ‘foul thief’ with a ‘sooty bottom’  

While Othello is shown to be ‘from the estates’, Dedemona (played by Poppy Gilbert) is a ‘Chelsea Girl’ while Cassio (now a police captain, rather than a military one) is described as ‘Eton Boy’.

Ince also cast a second Othello, to play the main Othello’s ‘subconscious self’. 

In a four-star review, The Evening Standard said it was a ‘intimate, powerful production, Shakespeare’s study of envy, racism and misogyny is transposed with depressing ease from 16th century Venice to the contemporary’.

The Guardian, who also gave it four stars, said: ‘The framing as a police procedural coheres well with the world of Shakespeare’s play and carries the chilling echoes of a Met still grappling with institutionalised racism and misogyny within its ranks – as well as distant resonances of the murder of George Floyd’.

However, Time Out says it gets ‘hopelessly tangled up in itself’ and ‘progressively loses steam’.

What’s On Stage, who also gave the play four stars, said: ‘At times it seems to buckle under its ambition, straining to answer all of the urgent and important questions it raises’.

Giving the play three-stars, the Telegraph wrote: ‘Ince paints a horribly persuasive portrait of the Met, it’s sometimes at the expense of an equally persuasive reading of the play’.

In a two-star review, the Times said: ‘Ince’s desire to make the piece more accessible still leads to some jarring moments’ adding ti ‘needs to be dialled down a little’.

The website also offers warnings for audiences.

‘Content guidance: The play contains issues of domestic abuse, misogyny, anti-black racism and offensive language. 

‘The play also contains violence, including murder, references to suicide, and scenes of a sexual nature. This production features the use of stage blood and weapons (including prop guns, tasers, knives and batons), flashing lights and loud gunshots,’ it says.

It’s not the first time the Globe has sparked debate with a retelling of a play.

Last year, they retold Joan of Arc as non-binary and using the pronouns ‘they/them’ has sparked extensive backlash from feminists and historians. 

Theatre bosses were also slammed for content warnings that Juliius Ceasar ‘contained knives’.