OTHELLO

Lester has taken on an immensely ambitious task, rewriting Shakespeare's tale and making a bridge to the play. A few of the bard's words are incorporated, and the basic plot is maintained, but this is primarily a literary venture. Reflecting modern sensibilities, Lester makes Othello black, enslaved by Moors, and shifts the story (it's not clear why) to England. Iago is also black, negating racism as a factor in his villainy. No longer is the title character burdened either by human flaws or falling sickness. With interpretive license and undue force, Lester makes his Othello a superman: he is apparently untraumatized by enslavement; speaks Arabic, Italian, English, etc.; he is a superb warrior; and having the wisdom of all humankind and a heart of gold, he is unable to recognize evil. Even murder springs from honor rather than the all-too-human flaw of jealousy. Unfortunately, enjoying this will be affected by one's reaction to or familiarity with domestic violence on both the minute and grand scales (the O.J. Simpson case, for example). To many readers, it will be troubling when Desdemona says, ``I want to greet each day with love burning as fiercely as the pain in the arrow-pierced heart of a deer,'' and is too foolish to see trouble brewing. She remains a traditional victim who ``asks for it'' and is just a means of exacting revenge for Lester's central characters, Othello and Iago. In spite of sensibilities over race and gender, this is a worthy effort for its exploration of the poison of jealousy, whether based on love or ambition. Lester revitalizes what for many would remain an unread text, through the all-too-fashionable concepts of notoriety and controversy, and the familiar old process of sedition. (Fiction. 10+)