Synetic takes a more abstract route, as set and costume designer Anastasia R. Simes bedecks her Crystal City stage with scenic pieces shaped like wedges — references to the triangles of the play: paranoid Othello’s imagined menage, the idea of Iago as three personalities in one.

The most memorable image in either production, however, is a single moment of illumination: the face of Folger’s Peakes, outlined in a beam of light, the features fixed in a sick smile. It’s the look of depraved triumph, mirrored in the eyes of a detestable character and a smashing actor.

Othello

by William Shakespeare, directed by Robert Richmond. Sets, Tony Cisek; costumes, William Ivey Long; original music, Anthony Cochrane; sound, Matthew M. Nielson; lighting, Andrew F. Griffin; fight choreography, Casey Dean Kaleba. With Todd Scofield, Chris Genebach, Jeff Allin. About 2 hours 40 minutes. Through Dec. 4 at Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Visit www.folger.edu or call 202-544-7077.