Audiences are shrieking bloody murder at Othello and howling at Something Rotten at the Stratford Festival

A sound not often heard during a Shakespeare play is shrieking — from the audience anyway.Snores are rather more common.But I heard several loud yells at a recent performance at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada, an idyllic theater haven especially frequented by upstate New Yorkers, Michiganders and Chicagoans.The noise came from a little boy in the front row of “Othello” in the close-quarters Tom Patterson Theatre.In the first half, the young man was audibly terrified by the violent tussle between Roderigo (Rylan Wilkie) and Cassio (Jordin Hall). “AHHHH!,” he howled as he clutched his mom for dear life.Later, at intermission, an amused man in the bathroom line cracked to me, referencing what was yet to come between jealous Othello (André Sills) and innocent wife Desdemona (Krystin Pellerin), “If he thought that was bad, just wait for the second half!”Stratford, North America’s largest repertory theater and one of the last few remaining, is brilliant at eliciting such big responses — from ages eight to 98.

Classic tragedies tend to be more upsetting than usual, and comedies far funnier.At the fest’s best, there is an earthiness to the acting that gets performers and audiences blessedly out of their heads.

Concept, more often than not (see: biker gang “Macbeth”), doesn’t snuff out rich, vibrant characters.In that respect, director Haysam Kadri’s “Othello” couldn’t have been further apart from the sleep-aid, wallet-robbing Broadway revival a couple seasons back starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, which had the stiff posture of a long history play.The only screams there were caused by the $900 ticket price. This vastly superior production begins at a stratospheric level of intensity and never relents, with a ritualistic set of ancient-looking stone arches that could host a gladiatorial fight to the death.

Sills has a real right-off-the-battlefield vigor as boiling-mad Othello, and Evan Buliung is the best sort...