Rude am I in my speech and little blessed with the soft phrase of peace,
for since these arms of mine had seven years pith,
they have used their dearest action in the tented field
and little of this great world can I speak
more than pertains to feats of broil and battle,
What's really important, it seems to me,
is that the army is absolutely central to this play.
It's we're going to want to explore -
what a life spent devoted to violence
has done to the men who are at the centre of the play
and to the women who find themselves caught up in the drama.
I've not said this yet, Lyndsey...
I don't see any reason why she shouldn't be in uniform,
- Emilia. - OK.
I'm really sorry to bounce that on you! (LAUGHTER)
And by the way, Jonathan, who arrived late,
who I hope will be able to talk to us at some point,
was until recently a pretty high-ranking General in the British Army.
I was 32 years in the military. I retired last year.
I was a paratrooper. I've been on operations throughout my life.
I commanded the effort in Basra in 2007 in Iraq.
So I come with a lot of experience of doing what Othello was asked to do.
He's asked to fight a war and, when he gets there, finds the war's disappeared.
So he has to then run a garrison - and I've done both.
I've fought wars and I've run garrisons.
I think we're going to want to work very hard at the kind of stuff that might go on
on an army base when there's not much to do except wait for something to happen.
It's very hot. People get very bored. There's a lot of alcohol.
As a commander, your job is to keep the troops busy, keep them happy,
keep them motivated toward positive things knowing full well that if you don't,
they'll fall into bad habits and that's exactly what happens
on the first night of the play.
They get to Cyprus, all ready to go,
fully locked and loaded and armed and there is no...there's no conflict.
They simply get there and take over
and wait...
In that heat with nothing to do.
Anyone who has any military experience at all will know
that that's a powder keg waiting to go off.
Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!
[HUBBUB]
Go, go, go!
I'm here already and you could be separating me here....
The main challenge on Othello was the brawl
with those big boys in a confined space.
When it comes to fights, we think blokes, we think ego, we think testosterone.
And actually, everything that I do is the opposite of that.
I do like my fly... Stand up tall.
We're working out where we're holding, how we're going to fall.
I'm looking after people.
Go.
There's a very crucial story within that brawl
and that's the Cassio story.
It's Cassio getting drunk, getting into a fight and injuring another soldier
which is his downfall.
So it's making sure that that's told properly,
but also keeping everybody else busy around it.
This is good.
OTHELLO: Put by this barbarous brawl!
We did this very brutal fight, and Jonathan looked at it and went, "Yeah.
"That looks like people who know how to kill letting off a bit of steam."
Just letting off a bit of steam, being quite gentle with each other.
But, you see, the officer takes it too far. He doesn't know when to stop.
What is the matter, masters?
This is not a fight about violence. It's a fight about release.
That's what Cassio gets exactly wrong. I explained that's exactly how it happens.
That's why when I was a young officer I wasn't allowed down town
with the young blokes because that's the sort of thing that always happens!
Officers, alcohol and soldiers don't mix, as a general rule.
HYTNER: Jonathan Shaw has been extremely interesting about the military context.
One of the things he insists on is how important trust is between men in the army.
And it's quite clear that the reason Iago is able to do what he does with Othello
is because Othello trusts him
more completely than, maybe, two men in civilian life would trust each other.
It's a given in the army. You have to.
Let him command,
and to obey in me shall be remorse, what bloody business ever.
Military life is based on loyalty
and a code of honour amongst soldiers.
And it's from that, that Iago is able to get away with what he does.
No one would question another soldier's loyalty to his colleague.
Now art thou my lieutenant.
Their bond of friendship and of mutual trust clearly goes back years.
Of course, that's why Iago feels betrayed,
because he believes that seniority
and length of service should be what determines promotion.
His standing in the structures of military life was pretty low,
although he had a closeness with Othello, who obviously was at the very top.
So when passed over for promotion,
and having his nose rubbed in his mediocrity, I guess,
it's that trigger that snaps him into doing something about it.
I gave them advice on how to dress, how to wear their berets, their clothing.
All of them took that on board, and on stage they look really proper soldiers.
There's one exception to that, and that's Rory himself, with Iago.
No matter how many times I told him about wearing his beret slightly tilted forward,
or flat, but certainly not tilted backwards,
"and do something about the knot at the back cos it's dangling down," he wouldn't.
His trousers are all scruffy. They run down over his boots.
I kept saying, "You should alter that."
Then I stopped saying that, because that's the way he's portraying the character.
He's a man who has boozed and smoked and drunk and whored his way through life
and it's catching up with him.
I had some military people see the play. A friend of mine said, "Great effort.
"Pity you couldn't get Iago to dress properly."
I said, "Yes, that's the point!"