Red Velvet (Lantern Theater Company, Philadelphia) by Lolita Chakrabarti

Red Velvet (Lantern Theater Company, Philadelphia) by Lolita Chakrabarti

I am a bit mad for all things Shakespeare, so a play about what happened in the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London in the 1830’s when a black man played the part of Othello for the first time couldn’t be missed.  I’m glad I made it.

Ira Aldridge, beautifully played with wit, charisma and ferocity by Forrest McClendon, was an American actor who left the states at age 17 to pursue a career in classical theater for which he was, apparently, extraordinarily well suited.  Ira’s talent made him famous, but the legitimacy he craved on London’s big stages was out of reach until 1833, when he was finally cast as Othello. That Ira finally grabbed the golden ring was made all the more bitter-sweet by the fact that after only 2 performances the controversy of his casting and performance resulted in the run being cancelled and the theatre going dark.  This result is somewhat surprising given the fact that in England, at the time, the anti-slavery movement was at a fever pitch and The Slavery Abolition Act passed Parliament during this same year.

This play, told in flash-back fashion, begins in a dressing room in Poland in 1867 where an older, slightly beaten-down Mr. Aldridge is reluctantly being interviewed.  The cast which surrounds Mr. McClendon’s Ira is wonderful, especially Damon Bonetti as Pierre, David Bardeen as Terrence and Liz Filios in multiple roles.

I love that the theatre has made such strides that blind casting in major shows is becoming the norm with regard not only to color but to gender.  I hate that in life we seem to be moving backward.  If only life could, for a change, imitate art.

#LTCRedVelvet