In October 1825, a Black man took centrestage at the Royal Coburg Theatre (now known as the Old Vic) playing the role of Oroonoko in the Revolt of Surinam or A Slave's Revenge. The playbill advertising the show made reference to the actor being 'a man of colour', and emphasised the authenticity of his performance in a Black and noble role.

But those who were attracted by the novelty of a Black actor on stage were in fact witnessing the rise of the first truly international Black 'superstar'. Ira Frederick Aldridge went on to become the most decorated actor of modern times. He was also an outspoken abolitionist in an era when slavery was endemic in the southern states of his native America .

Aldridge was mercilessly slated by London critics for performances in Shakespearean roles that had been the exclusive domain of white actors. He was a thorn in the side of those opposed to abolition. They singled him out for vindictive attacks, though he was lauded by theatre audiences for his magnificence in classic roles - particularly Othello.

Undeterred, he overcame his detractors. He toured successfully throughout Britain and Europe , attracting awards and plaudits for his outstanding performances. His triumphs in Russia gave him iconic status during his lifetime.

He remains an outstanding example of victory over adversity, prejudice, and institutionalised racism. It is rumoured that Stanislavsky, the accredited author of 'method-acting', witnessed Aldridge's performances in Russia as a young boy.

More about Ira Aldrige...
Aldridge came to Britain from America in his teens, determined to make it as an actor. Soon he was performing at recognised venues - such as the Royal Coburg (now The Old Vic). He chose dignified roles such as Oroonoko and Othello - roles that exposed the lie of Black inferiority. But by daring to play Shakespeare he was treading on hallowed ground. He broke into the heartland of the British classics, which had previously been the exclusive domain of white actors. He was a thorn in the side of the pro-slavery lobby. The London press singled him out for vindictive attacks - despite his magnificence in leading roles.

Undeterred, Aldridge toured successfully throughout Britain and Europe , attracting awards and plaudits everywhere he went. His triumphs in Russia gave him iconic status during his lifetime. One Russian critic said that the evenings on which he saw Aldridge's Othello, Lear, Shylock and Macbeth "were undoubtedly the best I have ever spent in the theatre". It is rumoured that Stanislavsky, the 'author' of method-acting, witnessed Aldridge's 'naturalistic' performances as a young boy in Russia .

Aldridge's bicentenary casts a long shadow over issues of human rights and social equity. How is it possible that we know so little about this outstanding actor who single-handedly transformed modern theatre practice? Until Aldridge, Black performers were seen as lowly entertainers, buffoons or freaks, using exaggerated language and self-caricature to earn a living. After Aldridge came Paul Robeson, a century later, picking up where the old master had left off in the role of Othello. By then Aldridge had been consigned to oblivion, and his kudos usurped by others.

The involvement of leading Black actors in Aldridge's commemoration is significant. (See flier.) It is an acknowledgement of legacy and accreditation. The importance of the arts in shaping social consciousness is as relevant now as it was in Aldridge's day. The need to empower a new generation with stirring role models is even more critical. Aldridge remains an outstanding example of victory over adversity, prejudice, and institutionalised racism.

The Ira Aldridge Bicentenary Project

CETTIE (Shango Baku), Oku Ekpenyon , Leon Robinson and Carol Dixon

Further info from CETTIE: 020 7226 4016 / 0790 327 7175 e: [email protected]

Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund

QUOTES ON ALDRIDGE

"Despite his unique and undeniable contribution to the art of the theatre, there has been what amounts to a systematic exclusion of Ira Aldridge from the works of theatre historians.This book, with its many limitations, is offered with humility as a beginning of what is hoped will be a rebirth of interest in the life and art of Ira Aldridge. The authors hope that it will stimulate others to pick up where they leave off, until this great man is given his rightful place in theatrical history, and until the fascinating story of a unique representative of the Negro people becomes known to the world." Herbert Marshall and Mildred Stock, co-authors of Ira Aldridge - the Negro Tragedian.1958

(Playbill text, 1825)

ROYAL COBURG THEATRE

First night of the celebrated AMERICAN TRAGEDIAN of a new and most effective Melo-Dramatic Romance.

Monday, October 10 th , 1825 and During the Week, at Half-past Six O'clock precisely, will be produced a Grand West Indian Melo-Drama, founded on Interesting and Pathetic Facts, to be Called the

REVOLT OF SURINAM

Or A Slave's Revenge

The Piece exhibiting a most faithful Portrait of the horrors that arise out of that dreadful traffic, which is the proudest boast of Britain to use her best efforts towards suppressing, must receive an immense portion of additional interest from being supported in its principal character by a Man of Colour, and one of the very race whose wrongs it professes to record; being the first instance in which one of that Complexion has displayed a striking degree of Histrionic Talent, and which has secured him the rapturous Approbation of an enlightened Public on the other side of the Atlantic.

p. 119

(The Pro-Slavery lobby, 1833)

Their attacks on Aldridge grew more virulent as their position grew indefensible, and the appearance of a Negro playing the finest roles in all drama on the boards of Covent Garden was indeed a damning negation, as Aldridge well knew, of their arguments and "theories" about the so-called inferior races.Aldridge stood upon the stage that night as the lone protagonist of his oppressed and vilified people.

p. 135

Those two days, 10 th and 12 th April 1833, will for ever be red-letter days in the history of world theatre and human progress, for in those days a lone Negro actor from an enslaved people challenged the great white actors in the very heart of their Empire, in their own Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in one of the greatest roles conceived by Shakespeare. It was almost a hundred years later that Paul Robeson appeared at the Theatre Royal, Drury lane, in Show Boat and at the Savoy in Othello, with Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona and Sybil Thorndike as Emilia, and in 1943 he played a record-breaking Othello for the first time in New York, on Broadway, only a short distance from the site of the little African Theatre where the African Roscius got his start.

p. 210

Illustrated London News , 3 rd July 1858

At Saxe-Meiningen, last January, after his performance of Shylock, Baron Von Tillich, the Grand-Intendant, by command of the reigning Sovereign, presented Mr Aldridge with the Royal Saxon House Order with the medal in gold; and the month following he was introduced, kissed hands, and received his diploma from the Royal Highness. What enhances this great distinction is that Mr Aldridge is the only actor, native or foreign, so decorated.

p. 225

Almazov, Russian critic, 1862

Aldridge has nothing in common with these theatrical personalities from the West who have visited us in recent times. His qualities consist not in picturesque poses and gestures, not in a melodic singing diction, not in an artificially (pseudo-majestic) tragic gait. No externality, no ballet-like grace and agility of movement, but a highly truthful understanding of art, a deep knowledge of the human heart, and an ability to feel the subtlest spiritual movements indicated by Shakespeare and to bring them to life before the public - that is what constitutes the essence of his acting.

p. 238

Mrs Yunge says: "In 1858 the influence of Aldridge on our actors was tremendous. Martinov, Maximov, Sosnitsky, Karatygin, Grigoryev, Bourdin, Leonidov were all in ecstasies over him and gave him an ovation to which he warmly responded, fully conscious that they wanted to learn from him; certainly the acting of many of them afterwards became simpler, livelier, and more thought-out."

p. 275

No foreign actor, before or since Aldridge, has ever touched this territory and, for that matter, neither did the important Russian actors, not even Shchepkin or Mochalov, play in such a large number of provincial towns. Some of these places had never even seen a professional Shakespearean play. Even such a large and important city as Odessa had never seen anyone with a Shakespearean repertoire until Aldridge came. It remained for Ira Aldridge, an American Negro, to be the first to bring not only Shakespeare, but theatre proper, to the distant Russian provinces, and to bring, furthermore, a modern, realistic style of production, acting, and interpretation that was to leave an indelible mark on the theatre history of Russia .

HONOURS RECEIVED

Honorary Commission of captain in the Republican Army of Haiti, 17 th Regiment of Grenadiers and Aide-de-camp to the President of Haiti, 2 nd December 1827 .

The Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold, presented by the Emperor of Austria, c.1854

Member of the Associate Order of Nobles, Highest State Honour, Bessarabia

Knight of the Royal Saxon Ernestinischen House Order, and Recipient of the Verdienst Medal of the Order, in Gold, presented on the 31 st January, 1858 , by His Highness Duke Bernhard, Reigning Sovereign of Saxe-Meiningen, and Brother of the late Queen Adelaide of England .

Member of the Prussian Academy of Arts and Sciences, and holder of the Society's Large Gold Medal (First Class) presented by His majesty Frederick William IV, at Berlin , 25 th January 1853 .

Member of the Imperial and Archducal Institution of "Our Lady of the Manger", Pesth, 1856.

Corresponding Member of the Royal Bohemian Conservatoire of Prague , September, 1858.

Recipient of the White Cross of Switzerland "Pour la merite", Berne , 1854.

Member of the National dramatic Conservatoire of Hungary, Pesth, 2 nd March, 1858 .

Member of the Russian Hofversamlung of Riga , 14 th October 1859 .

Honorary Member of the Imperial Academy of Beaux Arts, St Petersburg, and holder of the Imperial Jubilee de Tolstoy Medal, St Petersburg, 19 th December, 1858.

Information compiled by CETTIE & The Ira Aldridge Bicentenary Core Group

Contact: 020 7226 4016

Books on Ira Aldridge	Our Price	Used Price
Ira Aldridge: Negro Tragedian by Herbert Marshall - June, 1993	£16.54	£11.47
Ira Aldridge: The Negro Tragedian by Herbert Marshall - June, 1968
Ira Aldridge: The African Roscius (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora) by Bernth Lindfors - 01 September, 2007	£30.00
Speak of me as I am: The story of Ira Aldridge by Owen Mortimer - 1995	Limited availability