Red Velvet recounts the life and career of the African-American actor Ira Aldridge, who is credited with breaking European theatre’s color line when he began performing in England in 1826. Across the Atlantic, he is remembered for his portrayals of Othello and other Shakespearean roles, yet his story is mostly forgotten here in the country of his birth. Red Velvet, a play by Lolita Chakrabarti, received its premiere in London in 2012. Her husband, the actor Adrian Lester, portrayed Aldridge. ...
Red Velvet recounts the life and career of the African-American actor Ira Aldridge, who is credited with breaking European theatre’s color line when he began performing in England in 1826. Across the Atlantic, he is remembered for his portrayals of Othello and other Shakespearean roles, yet his story is mostly forgotten here in the country of his birth. Red Velvet, a play by Lolita Chakrabarti, received its premiere in London in 2012. Her husband, the actor Adrian Lester, portrayed Aldridge. The play debuted in America in New York in 2014.
Our director, Shirley Basfield Dunlap, has extensive professional credits including productions of Fences; Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years; A Raisin in the Sun; and From the Mississippi Delta. She is Associate Professor and Coordinator of Theater Arts at Morgan State University, and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Immediately after the reading, we will follow Jo Briggs, Associate Curator of 18th- and 19th-Century Art, into the galleries to see a rare portrait of Ira Aldridge owned by The Walters Art Museum. This promises to be a moving afternoon of performance and art. (Image courtesy of The Walters Art Museum.)
For information on parking: http://thewalters.org/visit/directions-parking.aspx
