Callum O'Neill

The Scotsman

Joyce Macmillan
13/08/2002

Set among British naval forces during the Falklands War of 1982 - with a tough female ruler at home giving the orders - Neil Sheppeck’s short 105-minute staging of the play forces us to face the fact that a black commander in the British Navy is still as unlikely a figure as a black general commanding Venetian forces in the 16th century, and that his presence is likely to expose similar racial attitudes.

[...] Some good-looking and heartfelt performances - notably from Patrick Regis as Othello, Neil Sheppeck himself as Iago, and Callum O’Neill as Michael Cassio.

I can hardly recall seeing a production that made more sense of Iago’s final, stubborn lapse into silence, the silence of those who avoid communication or argument because they know it can only corrode a false core belief that has become essential to their identity.