In our almost thirteen years on line, we've reviewed 9 productions of Othello. The temptation to give this Shakespeare classic new relevance since the election of an African-American president, has already brought us several major new productions. John Douglas Thompson has garnered high praise for his portrayal of the Moor both for Theater for a New Audience and at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachussetts. Now the Public Theater/LABrynth theater collaboration stars John Ortiz as the title character and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the villainous Iago.

As my very knowledgeable in all things Shakespeare colleague Simon Saltzman says, purists may not find this production as exhilarating as he did. While I'm not a purist and find new interpretations are what keeps Shakespeare's plays ever fascinating, I found myself less enthralled than Simon by Peter Sellars' directorial vision.

While I respect Sellars' reasons for not wanting to sacrifice a single word and thereby making this the longest Othello I can recollect seeing, I felt at least a half hour could have been trimmed, especially since the overall cinematic staging that leaves the stage dark except for spotlighting the actors is hard to take for four hours. And, interesting as the r'aison d'etre given for this production's connection to our current world, I was not persuaded that the conflation of 3 characters into one (Bianca Montana) is such a good idea.

The extensive use of microphones and subtly concealed head mikes certainly insure that not a word is lost, no matter where you sit in the large Skirball theater. The use of those standing mikes and that high-tech bed with its TVscreen headboard that dominates the otherwise bare stage is reminiscent of re-interpretations of the classics by the Wooster group, but not nearly as edgy.

In the past, it's been a toss-up as to whether Othello or Iago make the strongest impression. This is Philip Seymour Hoffman's show even though I can't recall ever seeing such a downright shlumpy looking Iago — more like the beer-bellied guy you'd see gathered at a local sports bar than the complicated, sly villain he is. Yet, Hoffman's Iago is as nasty a piece of work as I've ever seen and for all his ordinary appearance, he dies in with grand Shakespearian flourish, slumping to the floor his eyes wide open in death —as if he were watching a replay of all the evil he's wrought.

And so, while my take on this Othello is not quite the same as my worthy colleague's, see it for yourself. Perhaps like Simon and me, you'll come away enjoying an animated post-show discussion.