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Ira Aldridge
by
Martin Hoyles
price:
UK
pounds £8.99
ISBN : 978-1-870518-92-5
Softback 104 pp
138mmx228mm
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Ira Aldridge was one of the most celebrated
actors of the
nineteenth century. He performed in all the major towns in England, Ireland,
Scotland and Wales, and won international fame when he toured Europe,
earning a dozen honours and awards, including a knighthood in Germany. He
was idolised in Russia.
He was most famous for his portrayal of Othello, but he also acted in many
other roles in a career spanning more than forty years. He was the first
Black actor to play white roles, including Shylock, Richard III, King Lear
and Macbeth.
After three years of amateur dramatics in New York, Ira realised that there
was no future for him as an actor in America, so in 1824, at the age of
seventeen, he left for England. He worked his passage to Liverpool as a
ship’s steward.
Amazingly, in May 1825, he played Othello at the Royalty Theatre in the east
end of London and in October took the main role in the Royal Coburg Theatre
(now the Old Vic). He played the part of the African prince Oroonoko in The
Revolt of Surinam, a story which challenged the evils of slavery. The
production was a remarkable success, despite a review in The Times
which said that “owing to the shape of his lips it is utterly impossible for
him to pronounce English”!
Despite being “the world’s most celebrated interpreter of Shakespeare”
during his lifetime, Ira Aldridge was largely forgotten in Britain and
America after his death in 1867. With 2007 marking the 200th anniversary of
his birth, it is time to celebrate his achievements, not only as a brilliant
realistic actor, but also as a valiant campaigner against slavery. |
