Grand Iago, Ho-Hum ‘Othello’ in Laguna

Ron Campbell, one of the region’s most visible classical actors, is a natural to play Iago. His performance as the grand schemer is the most interesting aspect of an unimaginative “Othello” at Laguna Playhouse.

Lithe as a fox, Campbell speaks Shakespearean as if it were his first tongue. When his Iago is with others, his face never betrays his villainy--but when they’re not looking, his eyes size up the situation in a single glance. Even when he speaks directly to the audience, he’s so smooth that he almost sells his case.

In this production’s most surprising moment, Campbell’s Iago--alone onstage after the Duke of Venice has adjourned his nighttime conference--appears to carve “I Hate the Moor!” into the Duke’s ceremonial table. One wonders if Iago would take such a risk. But at least it helps explain why an Italian-derived word, “graffiti,” is used to describe such scrawlings.

The rest of the cast is OK, and Steve Matt’s Othello--also seen last year at Malibu Summerstage--is a formidable leader whose hidden rages are indeed fearsome. In Laguna Beach, his final moments seem a bit restrained, with a couple of lines too muffled; this may be due to director Andrew Barnicle’s decision to place Desdemona’s bed on an elevated platform off to the side instead of center stage. All of the bedside action seems relatively remote.

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But that’s symptomatic of the larger problem of this production’s poverty of design. Lisa Hashimoto designed one big, immobile, all-purpose platform. It fills the Moulton Theatre’s wide stage, and it provides upper and lower levels, but it doesn’t do anything else. It certainly fails to distinguish between Venice and Cyprus (or, as it’s spelled under the program’s cast list, “Cypress”--a token nod to a fellow Orange County community?).

Lighting can rescue productions with boring sets, but here Paulie Jenkins, who sometimes makes magical lighting out of sparse resources, appears stymied. Even composer Steve Moshier appears to have been told to make his brief musical moments sound as conventional as possible.

It’s hard not to compare this ho-hum approach to Shakespeare with the dazzling creativity recently displayed nearby in South Coast Repertory’s “The Taming of the Shrew.” While Laguna Playhouse, still becoming fully professional, isn’t as well-endowed as South Coast, the problem appears to be conceptual as much as fiscal.

* “Othello,” Laguna Playhouse at the Moulton Theatre, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, 2 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends June 2. $13-$25. (714) 497-ARTS. Running time: 2 hours, 55 minutes.

By William Shakespeare. Directed by Andrew Barnicle. Set by Lisa Hashimoto. Lighting by Paulie Jenkins. Costumes by Dwight Richard Odle. Music by Steve Moshier. Sound by David Edwards. Stage manager W. Brian Hugo.