A tart take on 'Desdemona'

Just as an artful presentation can enliven a ho-hum entree, director Jaclyn Biskup's cheeky, burlesque-inspired approach spices up "Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief," playwright Paula Vogel's darkly comic take on "Othello."

Vogel offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Shakespeare's tragedy from the perspective of its ill-treated female characters who, in Vogel's hands, prove as lusty, conniving and carelessly cruel as their male counterparts, using and abusing each other as readily as men use and abuse them.

"Desdemona" addresses the constraints gender places on women and depicts their struggle for independence in a male-dominated society. It also emerges as a rather keen examination of the bitterness, betrayal and self-interest that often subverts relationships between women.

It's a clever enough riff, but the somewhat smug play fails to rise to the level of Tom Stoppard's superior "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," a re-imagining of "Hamlet" through the eyes of two minor characters to which "Desdemona" bears a passing resemblance.

That said, the play benefits from Biskup's savvy direction and her eager, young cast who serve up "Desdemona" as the main course in The Mill Theatre's "Night of Burlesque," which begins with an amuse-bouche in the guise of a slightly naughty 1920s vaudeville show featuring a kittenish quintet comprised of Shanna Shrum, Christine Stulik, Amanda Link, Michelle Ziccarelli and Alison Connelly.

Wearing bobbed hair and long strands of pearls and dressed in tap pants, camisoles and chemises, they prance about Charlie Gaidica's set, which is draped in gauzy, blood-red curtains, singing saucy tunes by Stephanie Sherline (music) and Shannon Latimer (lyrics).

The coy curtain-raiser pairs bawdy blackouts with songs like the giddy "Pillow Fight" (which feeds stereotypical male fantasies of what transpires during a "girls' night in") and the not-so-veiled innuendo of "Venice is for Lovers" with its disturbing "Othello" reference: "I'll never find a man who loves me so much he'd murder me in a jealous rage."

The broadly comic, impudent and deliciously lascivious tone that infuses Biskup's "appetizer" extends to the play, which would be deadly dull were it played purely for pathos.

Biskup, revisiting the play she first directed six years ago, clearly recognizes that. That's not to suggest The Mill's production lacks feeling, only that it is carefully measured, and "Desdemona" is the better for it.

The action unfolds in Cyprus, in the backroom of Othello's house where the Moor's young, dissatisfied wife Desdemona (a restless, carelessly aristocratic Link) and her disgruntled but perceptive servant Amelia (a coarse, cagey Ziccarelli) literally air their dirty linen. Vogel's Desdemona is a far cry from Shakespeare's faithful, wrongly accused wife.

Here she emerges as the harlot her husband imagines her to be. The sexually adventurous Desdemona moonlights Tuesdays at the brothel operated by the base, but fundamentally decent, Bianca (the guileless Alison Connelly, terrific as the hooker with a heart of gold, whose honest performance inspires genuine affection).

The rebellious Desdemona admires Bianca, believing her to be a kindred spirit who rejects the roles of wife/mother and lives for herself not "bridled with linen, blinded with lace" like the women of Desdemona's class.

While she makes no apologies for her profession, Bianca is hardly the feminist Desdemona imagines her to be.

The most idealistic, least corrupt of the three, Bianca yearns for the conventional life (marriage, children, a cottage by the sea) that Desdemona rejects. Amelia, who's unhappily wed to the villainous Iago, wants the financial security Desdemona can provide. And Desdemona craves the freedom the single life affords. Unsatisfied with their own main course, each wants what the other has.

Purists may not appreciate Vogel tinkering with Shakespeare's signature dish, and frankly the play itself could use some seasoning. But the Mill's interpretation is palatable and audiences won't leave hungry.

'Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief'

Rating: 2½ stars

Location: Stage Left Theatre, 3408 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago

Times: 8 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays through Aug. 23, also 3 p.m. Aug. 16 and 23

Running time: About 2 hours, no intermissionw

Tickets: $20

Box office: (312) 388-7660 or themilltheatre.org

Audience: For adults, contains strong language and sexual references

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