Othellohyrrä
Shakespeare’s tragedy becomes an insightful, melancholic comedy. A specialist in organizational restructuring arrives at a Helsinki coffee-vending machine firm. For reasons he himself is unaware of, he has been nicknamed Othello. His inflexible methods create panic, and nobody can be sure about his or her job. Othello falls in love with the CEO’s daughter, but Hugo, the Sales Director, starts to feed Othello’s jealousy with insidious hints. Lehtola shifts the traditional themes of intrigue and uncontrollable jealousy to the modern corporate world, with its intolerable pressure, where everybody has to look out for themselves. The play’s language is stylized, consisting mainly of idiomatic office talk combined with flashes of poetry.
“Dammit, why should I be Hugo when I can be Othello? Driving me are the insidious flames of passion. And what drives you? Cream puffs.”
