In the play's first moments, we learn that Iago hates Othello (stalwart, passionate David Alan Anderson), a Moor hired by Venice to lead its forces against the Turks. Othello passed over Iago for promotion, favoring young well-bred Cassio (Zack Robidas, a PSF intern giving an impressively mature, detailed performance), and Iago imagines other slights, but what Peakes reveals in his dynamic performance is Iago's love of mischief. He leaps on tables in glee, plunges to his knees in frustration, and manipulates everyone around him with his intense sincerity, all the while winking at the audience, sharing his schemes directly with us.

Fontaine Syer, who directed some adventurous Shakespeare in her tenure as Delaware Theatre Company artistic director, guides a production that makes every character distinctive and every scene important, while ensuring that we see how Iago foments all discord. From H. Michael Walls as Brabantio's searing racist objections to Othello's marriage to his daughter Desdemona (petite, poised Vanessa Ballam) and Iago's sly manipulation of her hapless suitor Roderigo (John Maness) to Othello's belief that his bride betrays him with Cassio, we see good people led into chaos by Iago, the man they trust most.

The audience chuckles ruefully when one character after another professes Iago's honesty and goodness, but the laughter dies as Iago's thirst for violence grows. Envy, like "the green-eyed monster" Iago inspires in Othello, drives his own hatred: "He hath a daily beauty in his life," Iago says of Cassio. "That makes me ugly."

Particularly rich is Iago's complicated relationship with his wife Emilia, played by Susan Riley Stevens. He openly scorns and uses her, yet shares just enough affection to buy her obedience. Her outrage when she finally sees the truth is a revelation.

This forceful production unfolds on Bob Phillips' dark, symmetrical set, employing just a few furniture pieces as Shakespeare intended. Marla Jurglanis' costumes handsomely reveal Venice's crisp military, Desdemona's flowing beauty and Othello's exotic flair; and Steve TenEyck's lighting frames it all beautifully.

OTHELLO

Through Aug. 6, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival,DeSales University,Center Valley, 610-282-9455,www.pashakespeare.org