San Francisco Playhouse (Bill English, Artistic Director; Susi Damilano, Producing Director) continues its thirteenth Mainstage season with the West Coast premiere of Lolita Chakrabarti’s biographical play Red Velvet, directed by Margo Hall.
Carl Lumbly* will star as Ira Aldridge, the African-American actor who, in the nineteenth century and against social mores of the day, built an incredible reputation on the stages of London and Europe. The cast of Red Velvet at San Francisco Playhouse also features Susi Damilano*, Britney Frazier*, Richard Louis James, Tim Kniffin*, and Elena Wright*.
It is 1833 in London. No black man has ever starred on a British stage—not even as Othello—until tonight. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage while playing Othello. Ira Aldridge, a young black American, breaks more than the color barrier as he battles the entrenched social and theatrical norms of his day. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?
Lolita Chakrabarti's play creates imagined experiences based on this little-known true story of Ira Aldridge, proposing experiences to illustrate the deep emotion and controversy he likely endured.
Red Velvet received its world premiere at the Tricycle Theatre, London, on 11 October 2012, starring Adrian Lester as Ira Aldridge. It was revived at the Tricycle Theatre on 23 January 2014, before transferring to St Ann's Warehouse, New York, on 25 March 2014.
show less
Carl Lumbly* will star as Ira Aldridge, the African-American actor who, in the nineteenth century and against social mores of the day, built an incredible reputation on the stages of London and Europe. The cast of Red Velvet at San Francisco Playhouse also features Susi Damilano*, Britney Frazier*, Richard Louis James, Tim Kniffin*, and Elena Wright*.
It is 1833 in London. No black man has ever starred on a British stage—not even as Othello—until tonight. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage while playing Othello. Ira Aldridge, a young black American, breaks more than the color barrier as he battles the entrenched social and theatrical norms of his day. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?
Lolita Chakrabarti's play creates imagined experiences based on this little-known true story of Ira Aldridge, proposing experiences to illustrate the deep emotion and controversy he likely endured.
Red Velvet received its world premiere at the Tricycle Theatre, London, on 11 October 2012, starring Adrian Lester as Ira Aldridge. It was revived at the Tricycle Theatre on 23 January 2014, before transferring to St Ann's Warehouse, New York, on 25 March 2014.
San Francisco Playhouse (Bill English, Artistic Director; Susi Damilano, Producing Director) continues its thirteenth Mainstage season with the West Coast premiere of Lolita Chakrabarti’s biographical play Red Velvet, directed by Margo Hall.
Carl Lumbly* will star as Ira Aldridge, the African-American actor who, in the nineteenth century and against social mores of the day, built an incredible reputation on the stages of London and Europe. The cast of Red Velvet at San Francisco Playhouse also features Susi Damilano*, Britney Frazier*, Richard Louis James, Tim Kniffin*, and Elena Wright*.
It is 1833 in London. No black man has ever starred on a British stage—not even as Othello—until tonight. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage while playing Othello. Ira Aldridge, a young black American, breaks more than the color barrier as he battles the entrenched social and theatrical norms of his day. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?
Lolita Chakrabarti's play creates imagined experiences based on this little-known true story of Ira Aldridge, proposing experiences to illustrate the deep emotion and controversy he likely endured.
Red Velvet received its world premiere at the Tricycle Theatre, London, on 11 October 2012, starring Adrian Lester as Ira Aldridge. It was revived at the Tricycle Theatre on 23 January 2014, before transferring to St Ann's Warehouse, New York, on 25 March 2014.
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Carl Lumbly* will star as Ira Aldridge, the African-American actor who, in the nineteenth century and against social mores of the day, built an incredible reputation on the stages of London and Europe. The cast of Red Velvet at San Francisco Playhouse also features Susi Damilano*, Britney Frazier*, Richard Louis James, Tim Kniffin*, and Elena Wright*.
It is 1833 in London. No black man has ever starred on a British stage—not even as Othello—until tonight. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage while playing Othello. Ira Aldridge, a young black American, breaks more than the color barrier as he battles the entrenched social and theatrical norms of his day. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?
Lolita Chakrabarti's play creates imagined experiences based on this little-known true story of Ira Aldridge, proposing experiences to illustrate the deep emotion and controversy he likely endured.
Red Velvet received its world premiere at the Tricycle Theatre, London, on 11 October 2012, starring Adrian Lester as Ira Aldridge. It was revived at the Tricycle Theatre on 23 January 2014, before transferring to St Ann's Warehouse, New York, on 25 March 2014.
show less
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