Othello actors talk acts 3 and 4

Ian Booth and Melanie Steere play the romantic couple of Othello and Desdemona in Mt. Hood’s spring term production of “Othello.” Both thespians started their theater career in high school. Booth said when he was a freshman, he had been into sports his whole life, but was too small for football and so he decided to be in a musical.

“People seemed to like me, I was okay at it, and it was so much fun that I just decided to stop doing every sport I had ever played and just do theater,” he said.

Steere took drama at Centennial High School her freshman year, then continued taking theater until she graduated. “I decided I couldn’t live without theater,” said Steere, so she decided to join MHCC’s theater program.

Steere has performed in a number of plays, but Desdemona will be her first lead role.

“It’s kind of intimidating, but it’s a great challenge for me. When I first read Desdemona I thought she seemed really weak; I’m trying to find her strength,” she said, hoping to bring fire to the character.

She said she tries to make everyone smile backstage. “ I like to have fun with everyone. If someone needs encouragement, I like to give that.”

Steere said the play is challenging, but a great learning experience. “Reading Shakespeare is so much different from performing it,” she said.

Booth, on the other hand, has been in a total of 14 plays, 15 if the one he directed is counted. Most of the roles Booth played have been “big, out there, and really showy,” he said.

The actor said he feels strongly that he can bring that “bigness” to his characters quite well, but with Othello, it is different.

“The hardest part is bringing in the other side of people because not everybody is big all the time,”  Booth said. “Othello’s showy fits of anger and rage are sometimes a bit softer and funny – it’s kind of been a challenge,” he said. The play is “a good lesson in jealousy, if anything,” he said along with it helping to teach “not to take fears too seriously.”

Act 3, Booth explained, is really “where Iago starts to set most of his plans in motion. Iago is the plot mover for the entire show” and this act is when Iago really starts to poison Othello, he said. The character starts to buy into Iago’s tricks and the ball starts to roll.

In Act 4, “we see just how angry Othello is at Desdemona,” said Steere. By now, Othello is in complete belief of Iago’s tricks. Steere said it’s “when sh*t really goes down, it’s a tragedy – sh*t’s everywhere.”

Though traditional Othello is written into five acts, MHCC’s production will be put into two acts. Michael Tippery, playing the role of Gratiano, said that makes the play “less complicated.” Booth said the group split the play into two acts because they had “cut here and there from the play.”

Steere said the most obvious difference between traditional versions and MHCC’s contemporary “Othello” is how the players are dressing – it’s very different from the Elizabethan era.

“The cool thing about Shakespeare is that it can be placed into contemporary times; domestic abuse is still present, along with lying and putting forth a certain appearance,” she said.

Iago is the best example for “putting forth a certain appearance.” Iago, played by London Bauman, and Othello (Booth) are some of Steere’s favorite characters. She commends Bauman’s performance “because it is not an easy role – they’re big shoes to fill in and he’s been doing marvelous,” she said. Both Bauman and Booth bring a lot of energy to their characters and working off that energy is an enjoyable experience, she said.

Othello opens May 21 in the Studio Theater at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $5 in advance and $10 at the door for adults, and $7 for students, seniors, and MHCC staff.

Advocate Staff