Sunday, October 23, 2005

Zola and Othello

Last night we had dinner at Zola (fabulous - except the bathroom) and saw Avery Brooks in Othello at the Shakespeare Theatre. 



Zola was great.  I had a fondue with sausage and sourdough, a really amazing halibut dish with ginger grits, and a peanut butter and chocolate trifle for dessert (you cannot go wrong with peanut butter!).  Jeff's favorite was the lobster mac and cheese.  We will definitely be coming back.  However, I was supremely disappointed in their bathrooms.  They say on their website that their bathrooms are the best in D.C., so I was really curious to see why.  I still have no idea.  The bathroom was fine, but just a bathroom.  Nothing special at all.  I left wondering if maybe there was a super secret bathroom that I had missed (Zola is attached to the Spy Museum after all).  Oh well.



Othello was great as well, though Iago stole the show (as tends to happen in Othello, I guess).  Avery Brooks' performance was great, but Patrick Page's (Iago) was better.  I enjoyed the staging as well. 



We definitely need to make it out to the Shakespeare Theatre more often.  The last time we had both been was in college.



2 comments:

  1. Actually, I'd never been to the Shakespeare Theatre before... or am I forgetting something?
    But yeah, Avery Brooks was good, but Patrick Page was much better. Then again, Iago has a much better role. But Avery was hamming it up a bit too much - I haven't seen too many interpretations of Othello so maybe that's expected, but I didn't really buy the nervous breakdowns, etc...
    Although I suppose if he didn't portray Othello as totally falling apart physically, his actions wouldn't have been believable - the rapid descent into paranoida and distrust. It's probably tough for any actor to balance those out..
    But at least I got to see Sisko do Shakespeare. Now I just have to see Patrick Stewart do King Lear or something...

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  2. Oh, I thought you'd said you went in college too?
    I think I'd rather see Jean Luc than Sisko. ;)

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