EAVESDROPPING AND OUTRAGE ONSTAGE IN JACKSON (PLAY REVIEW)

Iago, played by Josh Pfefferkorn, left, and Othello, played by Blake Burress, rehearsed William Shakespeare's play "Othello" at Jackson High School auditorium. Jackson High School is presenting abridged versions of "Othello" and "Much Ado About Nothing" under the title "What Fire Is In Mine Ears?"

For better or worse, we often act upon what we hear, and that is the theme that runs through Jackson High School's presentation of "What Fire Is In Mine Ears?" a Shakespearean production running tonight and Saturday night.

The title is a line from "Much Ado About Nothing," which is the second of two abridged plays that will be presented, the other being "Othello."

"Othello" has been cut to run about half an hour, "Much Ado" to about one hour. The Jackson audience prefers comedies, according to drama teacher Tracy Fisher, but she still wanted to work a tragedy in. This arrangement is still probably the best in any case because of the complexity of the "Much Ado" plot, which would become incomprehensible if cut any further.

The Drama Club's staging of "Othello" provides the essentials of the play. Iago is Othello's ensign in the Venetian army and is jealous that Cassio has been promoted above him. He gets Cassio drunk and in a fight, which gets him demoted. Cassio asks Othello's wife, Desdemona, to plea with her husband to reinstate his rank.

This suits Iago just fine, as he then plants the idea in Othello's head that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, an idea proved to Othello by Desdemona's lost handkerchief appearing in Cassio's hand.

Unable to bear her supposed infidelity, Othello smothers Desdemona with a pillow.

Too late, Iago's wife, Emilia, reveals that she found the handkerchief and gave it to Iago. Othello then stabs himself to death. The final words are by Iago. In the uncut play the words are actually spoken by another character, but here they serve a double meaning when spoken by Iago.

Iago, as played by Josh Pfefferkorn, is alternately venomous, robust, craven, red-faced and reluctant, as the situation requires. The theme hinges on this character, who is the fire in Othello's ears. He can tell the truth, or twist it, and by the mere surface appearance of truth can manipulate other people. If you seem reluctant to tell what is actually a lie, the other person in this case Othello will demand to hear it.

Othello finds life in the appropriate baritone voice of Blake Burress. In fact, it is hard to picture any of the other actors taking on the role, because the melancholy of the Moor of Venice does not come across so easily in a higher-pitched voice. It is unfortunate that the abridged script left out Othello's famous "It is the cause" soliloquy before he kills Desdemona, but as the plot itself does not suffer from its loss, this is a minor point.

"Much Ado About Nothing" finds characters listening in on conversations and hearing words meant for others, whether it is from the safety of bushes or behind the safety of a mask at a ball.

In a thumbnail sketch, the play is about the marriages of Claudio and Hero, and Benedick and Beatrice. The first couple is madly in love, but Claudio has second thoughts when he hears that Hero is being unfaithful, a plot engineered by Don John.

Beatrice and Benedick, on the other hand, hate each other, or at least have a healthy disregard for each other as well as the institution of marriage. Yet through the overheard machinations of their friends, the two come together.

When Claudio abandons Hero at the altar, she faints and appears dead. Benedick challenges him to a duel after Beatrice asks him to.

But then Don John's plot is uncovered by Dogberry and Verges, played by Brett Price and Joe Gibbs, respectively. Claudio is offered Hero's cousin in marriage, and this cousin turns out to be Hero herself.

Benedick is played by Tim Nicolai, who is quite aware that dialogue is for speaking, not reciting. There are pauses and hesitations for comic effect in his speech, which is just the sort of thing that is not indicated in the text of Shakespeare's plays. Actors have to find these things for themselves. He also indulges in an uncushioned pratfall worthy of Chevy Chase, so it is perhaps good for his sake the play only runs two nights.

Beatrice, Benedick's hate then love interest, is played with tart defiance by Lydia Blades, then with a hard-to-achieve tremulousness in her voice as she asks Benedick to fight Claudio.

"What Fire Is In Mine Ears?" starts at 7 p.m. today and Saturday at Jackson High School auditorium. Tickets are $4.