Othello Show Poster

Othello Reviews

Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal star in a new production of Shakespeare's classic.

4.5
Show Overview

critics reviews Critics’ Reviews (3)

A collection of our favorite reviews from professional news sources.
Entertainment Weekly

"To see two of the world's finest theatre actors make a meal out of Othello and Iago. Too delicious to pass up!"

Entertainment Weekly

Dalton Ross

USA Today

"Jake Gyllenhaal mesmerizes in a career-best performance."

USA Today

Patrick Ryan

Hollywood Reporter

"Denzel Washington's magnetism is undimmable and undeniable."

Hollywood Reporter

David Rooney

customer reviews

Customer Reviews (190)

4.5
Score average from verified show reviews by customers who’ve bought tickets from Broadway.com.
5 stars
73%
4 stars
15%
3 stars
5%
2 stars
4%
1 star
4%
Showing 1 star reviews. View all reviews
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Solid acting poor production and direction
"The “get me there” was Washington and Gylleenhaal but was sadly disappointed along with my 3 other family members. Solid performances as expected by both leads but not great. The rush through their lines to the point of limited understanding. Production quality was poor at best even though I do like the idea of modernizing the characters while keeping Shakespeare-ing Old English ala Romeo and Juliet but they didn’t come close to pulling it off. Result was a boring, sleeping show with the audience completely lulled to sleep."
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Scott D from Atlanta on Apr 20, 2025
Very disappointing
"What a disappointment! We didn’t like the modern “placing on stage”. The acoustics were bad: difficult to understand the dialogs. "
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Broadway.com Customer on Mar 21, 2025
boring underacted nothing special
"The sets are effective. That is about all that is. If you have never seen Shakespeare and this was yourt first it is unlikely you would ever go again. And if you are well acquainted with his work you will not find anything worthwhile in this production. The actors are underwhelming. They may know their lines but they do not project or enunciate particularly well and they have no passion. This is a play about passion: rage, fear, pride, jealousy, hubris. None of those emotions are explored and the words fall limply and without impact. I fault the director but the actors share the blame for a totally missed opportunity."
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Marianne G from New York on Mar 13, 2025
aesthetically unpleasing
"I felt like I was watching a high school production. Costume and Stage production were extremely low budget. Highly overrated. The only positive was that the female actors were outstanding even though there costumes were not. "
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Broadway.com Customer on May 14, 2025
Love Shakespeare, but…
"Othello did not work on any level. Set, costuming, diction, blocking, physical manifestation of what words should convey, speed of speech, lack of imbuing the words with meaning, and Denzel’s diction and interpretation seemed unfathomable at times. He stood with his eyes directed to the ceiling so often we all started looking up to see what was up there. The violence seemed more like le grand ennui, and Iago carried very little menace in his bag of tricks. Le sigh."
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Broadway.com Customer on Apr 25, 2025
Too expensive,disappointing evening
"I have hearing aids and by confiscating the phones.I couldn't adjust the volume needed to hear.The modern scenery and costumes is always a turnoff for a classic such as Othello and honestly the actors' voice projection wasn't very good.Would not recommend even with the two stars.Go back to putting on classical adaptations of these gems."
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Terry E from Greensburg on Apr 13, 2025
The show just doesn’t work
"Disjointed. Seems to still bend in the rehearsal phase. . There was no ensemble feeling to the performing artists. The show would only be appealing to true Shakespeare lovers, and fanatical about the two stars."
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Broadway.com Customer on Feb 28, 2025

About Othello

Tony® & Academy Award® winner Denzel Washington stars as Othello, the noble Moor of Venice and commanding warrior-general. Opposite him, Tony & Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal portrays Iago, the ambitious lieutenant and masterful manipulator.

 

Spurned for promotion, Iago’s relentless quest for vengeance against Othello and his wife, Desdemona (portrayed by Molly Osborne), plunges them into a shocking web of deception and betrayal.

 

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