Dushan Phillips on OTHELLO: Melbourne Shakespeare Company’s Must-See Production

Melbourne Shakespeare Company has built a reputation as one of the country’s most exciting independent theatre companies with sell-out seasons of JULIUS CAESAR, KING LEAR and HAMLET last year cementing their place at the top of the indie theatre game. Their next offering, OTHELLO, is shaping up to be another milestone: a rarely performed Shakespearean tragedy featuring an all-star cast and the visionary direction of Tanya Gerstle, whose visceral “Pulse” method has made her a force in Australian theatre.

Among this glittering ensemble is Dushan Phillips, one of the most accomplished actors working on stage today. With a Green Room Award for Angels in America and Counting & Cracking and credits spanning Belvoir, Public Theater New York, Malthouse, Red Stitch, and Melbourne Theatre Company, Phillips brings both weight and nuance to the role of Iago,  arguably Shakespeare’s most infamous villain.

When asked what sets this production apart, Dushan doesn’t hesitate: it’s Gerstle.

Tanya’s Pulse method is famous, or infamousM for a reason, he laughs. The first two weeks of rehearsal weren’t about speaking the language at all. It was about experiencing it with our bodies. Shakespeare can get trapped in being intellectual, like two people standing around talking poetry at each other. Tanya refuses that. She insists that we ‘earn our pauses.’ The result is dynamic, visceral, and full of life, the play barrels forward like a train and we’re just hanging on for dear life.

It’s a method that demands complete commitment from the cast, and Phillips relishes the challenge. Playing Iago is no small feat, but for him the joy is in avoiding cliché.

It’s very easy to play Iago as a moustache-twirling villain. But what excites me is convincing the audience that he’s honest, even charming, until he’s not. He’s referred to as ‘honest Iago’ so often that I want there to be moments where the audience actually believes him, maybe even roots for him, until the betrayal lands. And yes, he’s dangerous, but he’s also having a jolly good time causing chaos. That mix of charm and menace is what makes him fascinating.

That charm of Othello comes from the text, with lines that still sting with relevance. His favourite? The famous warning: “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy: it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”

It’s so vivid. Shakespeare captures jealousy as this self-devouring thing, like a snake eating its own tail. Who hasn’t felt that? It’s timeless.

For Phillips, the themes of Othello are confronting but essential. Misogyny, domestic abuse, PTSD; issues often swept aside in society are laid bare on stage.

Some people argue Othello is too troubling to stage today, but that’s exactly why we should. Theatre gives us a mirror. These men return from war with trauma, and it plays out in violence and jealousy. It’s raw, but it’s real. And Shakespeare, the original gangster of human psychology, gives us the words to face that.

And in the rehearsal room, surprises keep emerging.

What’s blown me away is the relationship between Iago and Emilia. On the page it looks abusive and one-dimensional. But Lucy Ansell [playing Emilia] is so powerful in the role that we’ve found this complex, fraught marriage instead of a simple victim/abuser dynamic. Shakespeare’s writing allows for a thousand doorways into these relationships, and Tanya encourages us to explore them all.

So why should audiences come along? For Phillips, it’s about connection.

Othello shows us the ugliness of the human condition, but also the yearning for honesty and intimacy. We live in a world that’s dividing into subcultures, identity politics, race politics. This play lets us sit with the consequences of that division and, hopefully, leave with more empathy. I want people to go home and hug their loved ones tighter.

And if he had to sum up this production in three words? Phillips grins:

No one wins.

With a cast that includes Christopher Kirby, Lucy Ansell, and Phillips himself, directed by Tanya Gerstle, Melbourne Shakespeare Company’s OTHELLO is more than just another Shakespeare production,  it’s one of the most progressive, ambitious, and emotionally charged shows you’ll see in 2025. Don’t miss the chance to experience Shakespeare like you’ve never seen it before.

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Season: 11–28 September 2025

Venue: fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000

Performance Times: Tuesday–Saturday: 7:30pm, Sunday: 5:00pm

Duration: 90 minutes, no interval

Tickets: CLICK HERE