In the mid-60s, thanks to the Inner London Education Authority’s policy of subsidised matinees for schools, I was privileged to see the National Theatre’s production of Othello with Laurence Olivier and Frank Finlay (obituary, 2 February). Olivier’s performance I found artificial and overstated (my ignorance, not his fault) but Finlay’s Iago seized my attention and imagination.
I still recall with a frisson the moment when his Iago revealed his true, infernal nature. In the final scene Othello attempts to kill Iago, uttering the words “If that thou be’st a devil I cannot kill thee.” Finlay’s Iago doubled over, then slowly straightened up and extended the blood-stained hand he had taken from the wound and delivered the line “I bleed, sir, but not killed.” I went on to a career in theatre.
