Othello wakes up! 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 Theater has given Othello a modern makeover, with a new production of the Shakespearean classic depicting it as an examination 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, transforms from a ‘Moorish’ military commander into a black detective in the Met who, against the odds, rises in a racist force.

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

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

Critics have said it is ‘designed to appeal to Jed Mercurio fans’. While some reviews have labeled it ‘clever’ and ‘poignant’, others have said that Ince has been ‘overambitious in forcing too many ideas on it’.

Ralph Davies as Iago and Sam Swann as Rogerigo in the new production of the play

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

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

But Iago, suspicious that Othello may have had an affair with his wife Emilia, secretly plots and destroys him.

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

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

Iago incites Othello’s jealousy to believe that Desdemona is unfaithful to him until he finally 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 child of the estates who has triumphed against all odds’.

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

Othello (pictured) played by Ken Nwosu, transforms from a ‘Moorish’ military commander into a black Detective Chief Inspector in the Met who, against the odds, rises in a racist force.

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 an ‘Eton Boy’

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 an ‘Eton Boy’.

Ince also cast another Othello, to play Othello’s ‘subconscious self’.

In a four-star review, The evening standard said it was an “intimate, powerful production, Shakespeare’s examination of envy, racism and misogyny is transposed with depressing ease from 16th-century Venice to the modern day”.

The Guardianwho also gave it four stars, said: ‘The development as a police procedural fits well with the world of Shakespeare’s play and carries the chilling echoes of a Met still struggling with institutionalized racism and misogyny within its ranks – as well as distant resonances of the murder of George Floyd ‘.

However, Time Out says it is becoming ‘hopelessly entangled’ and ‘gradually losing steam’.

What is on stagewho also gave the play four stars, said: “At times it seems to buckle under its ambitions and strain to answer all the pressing and important questions it raises”.

To give the piece three stars, the Telegraph wrote: ‘Ince paints a terribly convincing portrait of the Met, sometimes at the expense of an equally convincing reading of the play’.

The play will be shown at Shakespeare’s Globe until the end of April

In a two-star review, the times said: ‘Ince’s desire to make the play more accessible still leads to some jarring moments’, adding that it ‘needs to be dialed down a bit’.

The website also offers warnings to the audience.

‘Content guide: The play contains questions about domestic violence, 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 props, guns, knives and staves), flashing lights and loud gunshots,’ it says.

It is not the first time that Globe has sparked debate with a retelling of a play.

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

Theater bosses were also slammed for content warnings that Julius Caesar ‘contained knives’.