The Times review

"Chiwetel Ejiofor produces one of the most memorable performances of Othello in recent years. His interpretation of the angst-ridden Moor is beautifully balanced and judged. Sadly, though, the same cannot be said of Ewan McGregor's take on the devilish Iago. We wanted to taste and smell Iago's villainy, and instead we got a rather testy young Scotsman" The Daily Express

"I'd be reluctant to part with a tenner for his [Ewan McGregor’s] performance… In a rare botched shot from director Michael Grandage, McGregor is by far the weakest link in a disappointing production" The Telegraph

“The secret of the success of Michael Grandage's extraordinarily fresh and new-minted production is that, for once, nothing in this familiar tragedy feels like a foregone conclusion” The Independent

"This [Chiwetel Ejiofor's] is a performance that, in its descent from majestic dignity to deluded rage, suggests a great and noble building being destroyed by the wrecker's ball" The Guardian

"Chiwetel Ejiofor achieves something extraordinary and historic... he offers a riveting, psychological diagnosis of Othello as a black African outsider in a white world, whose sexual and social insecurities make him masochistically susceptible to the sadistic manipulations of Ewan McGregor's Mr Monochrome - an Iago with a personality by-pass" The Evening Standard

"This is an Othello which magisterially reasserts the values of period pomp... It is performed to the highest standards, a strong cast being drilled to an inch of perfection by director Michael Grandage... It surely can not be long before Mr Grandage is placed in charge of the Royal National Theatre" The Mail on Sunday online

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