EXCLUSIVE: Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal's $900-Per-Ticket 'Othello' Panned as 'Rip-Off Snoozefest' By Outraged Broadway Fans and Critics
Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal star in Shakespeare's 'Othello.'
April 16 2025, Published 9:25 a.m. ET
Oscar-winner Denzel Washington's $900-a-pop Shakespeare stage play has been panned as a sleepy bore-fest by top theater critics and audience members.
The production of Othello on Broadway has raked in almost $3million in sales in its opening weeks but culture experts have savaged the production, claiming Training Day legend Washington looks like he wanted to be elsewhere, and another writer slammed the Brit Desdemona actress and her "unwieldy" American accent, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Washington and Gyllenhaal's production has been panned by critics and audience members.
One high-brow theater critic for respected The Guardian newspaper wrote: "Star power does the heavy lifting, though not enough to elevate this Othello into the pantheon of Broadway greats.
"As expected, Washington, at 70, brings the bearing of an elder statesman to the fallible Venetian general, a role he first played at age 22.
"This has the double-sided effect of making the character feel especially tragic – the well-respected veteran general, imbued with glorious authority by one of the most well-respected actors, felled by a shocking streak of insecurity – and ill-fitting; his chemistry with Desdemona (a much younger Molly Osborne, an English actor with an unwieldy American accent) feels more father-daughter than new husband and wife, despite Washington’s best attempts at charming, sexy beguilement.
"Washington has moments of sublime melody as Othello descends into jealous delusion, the kind of rhapsodic deliveries that feel worth whatever price of admission, but the overall tone of his performance is one of perfunctory hyper-competence."
Theater-goers have paid up to $900 per ticket for 'Othello.'
An audience member on X wrote: "Yawnsville. What an absolute borefest that was. I paid a fortune for not very much."
The play also stars Jake Gyllenhaal, 44, as Iago.
Culture website Vulture said of the mega-pricey play: "Audience and ensemble alike are lost in a hinterland so disconcertingly sleepy and beige that it’s hard to summon anything as visceral as fury. At the forefront of the whole thing, Washington isn’t bothering, at least in any legible way, to feel much, so how can we?
The 70-year-old star first appeared in the play aged just 22.
"Othello has no opinion, no reason for being beyond the movie stars at its center. It barely even has a pulse. On a set of heavy, generic columns by Derek McLane, actors in standard-issue navy suits and Desert Storm–style fatigues reshuffle themselves into indifferent configurations.
"Washington seems, or at least seemed, the night I saw the show, to be miles away from the Barrymore Theatre."
Washington's role in the play was cast into doubt after a recent accident.
He was struggling to speak after suffering an almost career-ending injury.
Gyllenhaal plays Iago and the play runs until June.
RadarOnline.com revealed the actor said he nearly bit his tongue in half a few months ago, leading to speech difficulties and challenges for the upcoming role in Othello.
During a recent appearance on the New York Times Interview podcast, he claimed his injury was affecting his speech and forcing him to slow down as he talks.
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One critic wrote: 'Washington seems to be miles away from the Barrymore Theatre.'
The Academy Award winner didn't go into detail about his injury but admitted it had affected the Broadway revival of Othello.
He said: "I have a line, 'Whither will you that I go to answer this your charge?' It's hard because my tongue is swollen. It has affected everything."
