When Moor is less

Performed by a 12-member cast on a bare stage, the Cheek by Jowl modern-dress “Othello” focuses all its considerable energies on how eagerly Shakespeare’s characters stumble toward disaster.

The 14-year-old British company made its local debut on Thursday in the Freud Playhouse as part of the UCLA Live International Theatre Festival, avoiding any suggestion of Venetian pomp or Cypriot atmosphere but resourcefully clarifying the text.

When absent characters are discussed, you see them standing motionless on the small rectangular wooden platforms that represent designer Nick Ormerod’s only scenic contribution. These tableaux not only establish the identities and shifting moods of the principals, they also help each scene cut into the next (or even overlap, in one case) with a headlong rush toward tragedy.

But tragedy stays unattainable, largely because director Declan Donnellan has made Iago so transparently, flagrantly, publicly evil that Othello, Cassio, Desdemona and Emilia quickly seem no less pathetic boobs than the delusional Roderigo for ever trusting him. Jonny Phillips snarls, everyone calls him “honest Iago,” and we laugh out loud at the stupidity.

Moreover, Donnellan frequently mocks what the characters say about one another. For instance, Iago explains that he hates Cassio because “he has a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly.” Fine words, but what we see is the capable Ryan Kiggell getting booty-whipped -- and then paying for the pleasure. Some daily beauty.

As the staging shifts into sardonic melodrama, the line “men should be what they seem” defines its central truth and the heartbreaking “I kiss’d thee ere I kill’d thee” ends on the cutting-room floor.

Perhaps it’s just as well, for Caroline Martin makes Desdemona a chatty, nervy but fatally uncomprehending trophy wife -- most assuredly not a “maiden never bold; of spirit so still and quiet that her motion blush’d at herself.”

As a raw-edged ringmaster of an Iago, Phillips swallows some of his speeches -- and the Freud acoustics don’t help when he and the other actors move upstage -- but he scowls, spits and schemes masterfully.

Jaye Griffiths gives Emilia intelligence, sensuality and a distinct freshness of spirit, though her incredulity at Iago’s treachery in the last scene seems overplayed considering how badly he’s behaved toward her and everyone else.

Although he’s cast in the title role, the splendidly spoken, unfailingly vibrant Nonso Anozie often seems to be portraying Polonius in “Hamlet”: an officious blunderer full of wise saws and modern instances, insistently matter-of-fact even when he’s yammering to himself.

His epileptic fit is perfect, and there are outbursts that show you he could be a fine Othello -- but he’s never permitted to be heroic, the mysterious outsider on whom a whole society depends, or a greathearted soul discovering shattering truths about himself in the grip of jealousy.

The excellent supporting players include David Hobbs as an especially powerful Brabantio (Desdemona’s father). But they don’t make you buy Donnellan’s key premise: the characters’ need to believe the best about his demon-Iago and the worst about everyone else.

Instead, the production adopts (perhaps unintentionally) the mission of Shakespeare’s source: a story by Italian author Giraldi Cinthio intended to warn young women away from impulsive, inappropriate marriages. But murderous domesticity doesn’t hold for nearly three hours, and Donnellan isn’t interested in how Othello’s actions resonate in the whole state.

That’s a tragic flaw: Newlyweds who don’t know themselves, much less one another, don’t need an Iago to bring them to grief -- which may be why the very professional and often accomplished Cheek by Jowl staging ultimately feels so pointless.

*

‘Othello’

Where: UCLA Live at Freud Playhouse, UCLA, Westwood

When: 2 and 8 p.m. today, 2 p.m. Sunday

Price: $43 to $55

Contact: (310) 825-2101

Running Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes

Nonso Anozie...Othello

Caroline Martin...Desdemona

Jonny Phillips...Iago

Jaye Griffiths...Emilia

Ryan Kiggell...Cassio

Matthew Douglas...Roderigo

David Hobbs...Brabantio

By William Shakespeare. Directed by Declan Donnellan. Designed by Nick Ormerod. Music by Catherine Jayes. Judith Greenwood, lighting designer. Edward Dick, assistant director. Jane Gibson, movement director. Terry King, fight director. Patsy Rodenburg, voice coach. Angie Burns, costume supervisor. Will Harding, production manager. Terence Eldridge, company stage manager.