Sunday Times
by John Peters, 21 November 2004

Nonso Anozie is only 25, but his powerful and subtle Othello in Declan Donnellan's thrilling Cheek by Jowl production is the greatest account of this towering role since Olivier played it 40 years ago. This is the tragedy of a man who loses himself, his majesty, his reason for living. The more he is entangled by Jonny Phillips' wolfish Iago (a hideously exciting performance), the more he clings to what he things is his self control. The tragedy springs from the pathetic contracts between his gullibility and his knife-edge effort to remain dignified and reasonable. This is something he has clearly had to learn as an outsider in a sophisticated world. The setting is an almost bare oblong space, with audience on each side. In other hands this, and having characters on stage when they are spoken about, would seem like modernist tricks; here they add an extra dimension. Caroline Martin's Desdemona is very young but poised, dignified and confident; she can hold her own against Othello and her scenes with Jaye Griffith's spirited, shrewd Emilia have a sense of heartbreaking intimacy. The long final scene is the most devastating I can remember. This magnificent production runs only until December 4. Why?