Red Velvet | Freefall Theatre
Sat Feb 25, 6:00 PM - Tue Mar 7, 9:00 PM

Among the pantheon of legendary Victorian actors, you may have heard of Irving, or Kean, or Tree, but chances are you’ve never heard of Ira Aldridge, the American actor of African descent who became the first black actor to play the title role in Othello on the London Stage. Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833: Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation has collapsed on stage whilst playing Othello. A young black American actor has been asked to take over the role. But as the public is rioting in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics, and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre? This award-winning new play, which premiered at London’s Tricycle Theatre in 2012, is an important work which paints a vivid picture of an early chapter in the ongoing struggle to bring diversity to the stage.

presented by Michael Miller & Robert Jenkins