Arran Beattie may not be trailing a billowing red cape or arrive on a white steed when he takes to the stage in Independent Theatre’s Othello early next month, but he is certainly the show’s saviour!
Arran has jumped into the demanding role of Iago in the Shakespearean classic just four weeks before opening night, filling the void left when the original actor caught COVID and couldn’t continue.
The 25-year-old actor, who originally hails from Scotland and graduated from Flinders Drama School back in 2018, was recommended by the State Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, Mitchell Butel.
“It was a huge compliment and gave me the confidence to take up the challenge,” said Arran.
Iago is a complex, self-serving character with plenty to say – Arran has more lines to deliver than anyone else on stage (at 1,097 lines, it’s the third most lines of any character in a single Shakespearean play!) It isn’t an easy role but Arran has been preparing hard – not just studying Othello but drawing inspiration from his life and the world around him.
“With my casting as a queer actor, I’m really interested in exploring the reasons behind Iago’s actions – is he a repressed closeted guy, maybe in love with Othello? Or is he just vengeful that Othello overlooked him for promotion?
“One thing is for certain, Iago is a fairly self-interested Machiavellian character – there are definitely some psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies there, so I’ve been doing some reading on serial killers – trying to learn the motivations of people like Jeffrey Dahmer and Andrew Cunanan.
“I think Shakespeare has been in the hands of academics for a very long time but ultimately, he was making his work for the working classes. It was for people who didn’t have money for what we now call ‘high art,’ they could pay a penny and go to the theatre.
“I think that is something that we need to remember when we’re putting on a Shakespeare production – it was written for the people.”