Bottom line: Way too soap opera-ish/overly dramatic, even for a Shakespearean tragedy.
While Iago was a decent, if paint by the numbers, villain, his work wasn't that hard since Othello and Roderigo were so easily taken in with Iago's thin lies. I like Othello in the beginning, but I quickly lost that feeling when he went into overdrive on the dramatics and "woe is me, I have a cheating wife" hysterics. Desdemona from the beginning seemed to be nothing more than a doormat for any other character to use whenever the plot called for it. The true hero in this story isn't Othello, it is Emilia who told the truth and called out her husband for his schemes and lies.
I did like that the play involved malicious gossip, racism, and misogyny to showcase how human the idols and leaders of a society could be ruined. But it was boring to read scene after scene of Othello's, Cassius', and Roderigo's hysterics.
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