Red Velvet by Lolita Chakrabarti

Gregory's Review: Red Velvet by Lolita Chakrabarti

Where: The Tricycle Theatre (Nearest Tube: Kilburn Station)

When: 11 October - 24 November 2012

Cost: £14 - £22

Audience: 16+

Rating: ★★★★

Edmund Kean, one of the greatest actors of his generation, has collapsed on the stage at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden. A young African-American actor, named Ira Aldridge (1807-67), was selected to fill the lead-role as Othello.

This play sets in 1833, where there has never before been a black actor to play at the Theatre Royal. Set in a time where the public is rioting over the recent abolition of slavery, how will the fellow cast members, audience and critics respond to the revolution in the theatre?

Adrian Lester did a dynamic job encompassing two roles, both the young Ira and the elder Ira, as there are several flash backs that take place in the production. The play opens and closes in a dressing room, where the revolutionary Ira Aldridge is preparing to play King Lear.

While some of my fellow American classmates were not too impressed with Lester's accent, I feel he did an excellent job impersonating a 19th century African-American classical actor. Red Velvet is only the beginning for Adrian Lester as he is warming up to play Othello at the National next year.

It is quite inspirational to see how far the theatre industry has come as Adrian Lester has surpassed Ira Aldridge, as he is playing roles at various prestigious theatres that Aldridge could have only dreamed about in his times. 

Me & Eugene O'Hare, who plays Pierre Laporte in Red Velvet