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Tag Archives: Ira Aldridge
Shakespeare and Black History Month 2020
October is Black History Month, and this year, 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement has raised awareness of issues relating to race in both the UK and USA. Although it was founded in 2013 Black Lives Matter protests began in … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage, Shakespeare's World
Tagged Black History Month, Black Lives Matter, David Olusoga, Ira Aldridge, Jami Rogers, Joseph Marcell, Rudolph Walker, Vanessa Corredera
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Stratford-upon-Avon’s first Black Othellos
It’s 60 years ago, in April 1959, that one of the most important events in the history of the theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon took place. Paul Robeson, the great American singer and actor, became the first black Othello in Shakespeare’s town … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Coventry, Ira Aldridge, Othello, Paul Robeson, Savoy Theatre London, Tony Howard
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International Migrants Day: Ira Aldridge and theatre
18 December is International Migrants Day, when the courage and contribution of migrants and refugees around the world is especially celebrated. In the play Sir Thomas More, Shakespeare wrote persuasively about the plight of people fleeing their own countries: he … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Coventry, Dublin, International Migrants Day, Ira Aldridge, migration, Nottingham, refugee, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Sir Thomas More, Tony Howard, United Nations
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Coventry, UK City of Culture 2021
There have been great celebrations since Coventry was been named as the 2021 UK City of Culture. It was an unexpected winner, most people’s view of the city being based on the confusing road network and its modern housing and … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy
Tagged Coventry, Coventry Cathedral, Coventry Guildhall, David Garrick, Ellen Terry, Erica Whyman, Historic Coventry Trust, Ira Aldridge, ribbon, Sarah Siddons, Sir Ian McKellen
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Ira Aldridge, theatre manager: the Coventry connection
On 3 August 2017 a blue plaque is to be unveiled in Coventry commemorating Britain’s first non-white theatre manager, Ira Aldridge, exactly 150 years after his death. I’ve written blog posts before celebrating Aldridge’s work as an actor in Shakespeare’s … Continue reading
Post-war British theatre: Finlay, Gaskill and British Black and Asian Shakespeare
Almost swamped by the understandable outpouring of tributes for the late Sir Terry Wogan, the death of the fine actor Frank Finlay at 89 has passed with little attention this week. Most people remember Finlay for his screen and TV … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage
Tagged Adrian Lester, Bill Gaskill, British Black and Asian Shakespeare, Frank Finlay, Ira Aldridge, Laurence Olivier, Othello, Red Velvet, William Gaskill
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British Black and Asian Shakespeare
We’re in the middle of Black History Month 2014, and it’s a good moment to draw attention to a major project on the history of non-white performers of Shakespeare. British Black and Asian Shakespeare is run by Professor Tony Howard … Continue reading
Black History Month: telling the story of Ira Aldridge, the African Roscius
Until only a few years ago the nineteenth-century actor Ira Aldridge was a little-known curiosity in the long history of the theatre. He was the first (probably the only) “gentleman of colour” of any note to appear on the English … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage
Tagged Adrian Lester, African Roscius, Black History Month, Ira Aldridge, Othello, Red Velvet, slavery, Tricycle Theatre
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Ira Aldridge, Shakespearean actor and gentleman of colour
The black actor Ira Aldridge is now recognised as one of the most remarkable interpreters of Shakespeare’s leading roles. He first appeared on the London stage as Othello in 1825, and remained associated with the role for the rest of his … Continue reading
Paul Robeson, Othello and Mixed Britannia
The BBC has just begun a mixed race season, examining how over the past 100 years Britain has come to be a country in which inter-racial partnerships are commonplace. The first documentary in the series Mixed Britannia looked at the … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Plays and Poems, Shakespeare on Stage, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Ira Aldridge, Mixed Britannia, Othello, Paul Robeson, Peggy Ashcroft
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