An ‘Othello’ That Sizzles : Royal National Theatre production plays well in the heat of Phoenix, where biggest star turns out to be the set designer, Anthony Ward.

The temperature hit 103 Tuesday for the visit of the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain and Princess Anne, who valiantly wore black gloves to the Herberger Theater, despite the heat. Air conditioning made the theater comfortable enough for the dressy crowd gathered to launch the local UK/AZ Festival. But the action onstage was sizzling almost as much as the weather outside.

Director Sam Mendes, making his U.S. debut, staged an “Othello” with a semi-tropical quality. These characters sweat and smoke. The noble Venetian warrior lets his passions run amok in a Cyprus that resembles a British colony in a sultry prewar summer.

Ceiling fans and wicker furniture, cigarettes and cigars, scratchy records and radio broadcasts, pistols as well as knives--the atmosphere is redolent of the “Casablanca” era, of the British Empire in decline.

To paraphrase Noel Coward’s quip about mad dogs and Englishmen, here we see several Englishmen turning into mad dogs under the sway of the Cypriot sun.

Anthony Ward, who is credited for the entire design, is as much the star of the show as any actor. Befitting a production designed to tour (however, this is the show’s only currently scheduled U.S. engagement), the set is simple but extraordinarily versatile.

Behind a wide, open space is a two-tiered wall dotted with large louvers. These serve quite literally as Venetian blinds for Desdemona’s father to look through, then later provide a window on the swirling storm that accompanies the battle against the Turks and the red glow from the bonfires to follow. This structure offers doors on the lower level, a handy perch for Othello’s eavesdropping on the upper level, and the ability to provide a wide variety of gradations in light and shadow.

Even apart from the louvers, Ward does wonders with the lighting. He keeps much of Iago’s skulduggery in intricate shadows, then uses sharply focused desk lamps or overhead fixtures to highlight those pivotal moments when Iago hatches his schemes. Likewise, in the final bedroom scene, Desdemona is in a ray of intense light at the center of the stage while Othello prowls the perimeter, venturing into the light only for his direct moments of confrontation.

The physical contrast between David Harewood’s Othello and Simon Russell Beale’s Iago is striking. Harewood is classically chiseled, big and muscular, looking and sounding very commanding in his medaled full-dress uniform. Beale is short and squat. He’d probably like to loosen the buttons on his uniform. Iago’s jealousy is as palpable as Othello’s.

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Before intermission, Othello pats Iago’s head as if he’s a puppy, and Iago later kneels in a gesture that reinforces that impression. But as Iago’s machinations begin to tear apart Othello, Beale gets to gloat and even touch Othello’s head in a condescendingly affectionate way that’s comparable to Othello’s earlier gesture.

Early on, as Harewood relates how his tales of adventure seduced Desdemona, he slows and drops his voice with such impact that it’s easy to understand what he’s talking about. But when his composure starts to crumble, his breakdown is intense. He even stoops to smelling the sheets for signs of Desdemona’s infidelity.

In truth, Claire Skinner’s Desdemona is not insensitive to her own seductive powers. While the other women wear loose-fitting dresses, Ward costumes Desdemona in tight, slinky, glamorous outfits. With her hair in a blond bob, Skinner also displays considerable spirit against Othello’s accusations, at one point even slapping back.

Colin Tierney is a tall, lean Cassio whose drunken behavior might have become violent even without Iago’s relentless goading. Likewise, Crispin Letts makes Roderigo a wretched pawn who hardly needs Iago to bring him down. Roderigo’s unorthodox entry into Cyprus provides one of the evening’s few laughs.

Mendes’ staging is rich in details as well as overall sweep. The conversion of his “black box” blocking in London, where the play opened only two weeks ago, into the Herberger proscenium stage is marred only by some obstructed sight lines, at least for those in the front and center seats. Furniture blocked our view of the scene at the duke’s palace, and we couldn’t see the tiled floor.

Mendes cut only 170 lines: the production lasts more than three hours. But Paddy Cunneen’s percussive music keeps the energy flowing between scenes, and it’s fascinating to watch Othello’s step-by-step deterioration in all of its awful glory.

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* “Othello,” Herberger Theater, 222 East Monroe, Phoenix. Tonight-Saturday; 8 p.m. Today and Saturday, 2 p.m. $40-$50. (602) 254-8497.