Othello review: Denzel Washingtons dull Broadway show isnt worth a $921 ticket

“Othello” opens next Sunday on Broadway.But The Post has decided to review the show a week early after the production rescinded critic Johnny Oleksinski’s ticket because he wrote a column blasting their $921 prices.

That’s OK.We bought our own.Two hours and 35 minutes, with one intermission.

243 W.47th Street.

Through June 8.On Broadway, handing out mandatory pouches that lock up audience members’ mobile phones is increasingly common. In recent years, they’ve been used during shows with nudity to prevent filming actors in the buff, or at comedy acts to keep surprises under wraps. But there is no nakedness or brand new material over at William Shakespeare’s 420-year-old “Othello” at the Barrymore Theatre.Perhaps the required sealed bags are meant to keep the bored crowd from browsing Instagram. Despite the formidable presence and occasional specks of greatness from Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, and a real winner in Jake Gyllenhaal’s feisty Iago, this is one slooow-thello.Let’s start with the nebulous setting that adds nothing to the famous play’s look or meaning.

The words “the near future” are projected onto the back wall like we’re about to watch “Blade Runner.” Instead, the cast enters in basic, wrinkly menswear and stylish dresses and later on don army fatigues.The “near future,” apparently, is Monday.

Shocking no one, the typical weathered pillars that could just as easily flank Julius Caesar or King Lear shuffle on and off like they’re clocking in at Target. The whole pricey production seems unconcerned with being novel or visually appealing — more of an Audible arrangement.Nearly everything about Kenny Leon’s direction exists on a spectrum of wishy-washy to thoughtless.Even the actors’ movement around the stage is clunky and mechanical.Of course, classic plays can be extremely effective when minimal.

(Though at these prices, we deserve the water acrobatics from Cirque du Soleil’s “O” — not just...

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Publisher: New York Post

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