Red Velvet

'Chakrabarti has crafted a rich psychological study that's also a shrewd portrait of the theatre as an institution - its vanities and strange conventions, its politics and sense of community, the opportunities it presents for both progress and blinkered traditionalism.' EVENING STANDARD Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage while playing Othello. A young Black American actor has been asked to take over the role. 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? Red Velvet uses imagined experiences based on the true story of Ira Aldridge, a Black American actor who, in the nineteenth century, built an incredible reputation on the stages of London and Europe. This Student Edition contains commentary and notes by Lydia Valentine, Research Fellow and Lecturer at Shakespeare's Globe.

Winner of the 2012 Most Promising Playwright Evening Standard award, Lolita Chakrabarti is a British actress and writer who has worked extensively on stage and screen. Her most recent acting theatre credits include The Great Game, Afghanistan for The Tricycle, Last Seen - Joy for the Almeida, Free Outgoing for the Royal Court and John Gabriel Borkman for the Donmar Warehouse. Her acting screen credits include The Casual Vacancy, Jekyll and Hyde, My Mad Fat Diary season 3, Vera,Outnumbered, Hustle, Extras Christmas Special, Holby City, Silent Witness, Amnesia, William and Mary, Fortysomething, Bodies, and Forgiven. Writing credits include The Goddess for Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4, Faith, Hope and Blue Charity, also on BBC Radio 4 and Last Seen - Joy for Slung Low and the Almeida. In 2012, Red Velvet was the first play performed under the Tricycle's new artistic director Indhu Rubasingham. It returned to the Tricycle in 2014 before having its US premiere at St Ann's Warehouse New York. Lolita Chakrabarti also runs Lesata Productions with Rosa Maggiora. Their short film won Best Short Narrative at PAFF, Los Angeles 2012. They are currently in development with their first feature. www.lesataproductions.co.uk

Chronology Who was Ira Aldridge? Historical, Social and Cultural Contexts > Race, Shakespeare and Othello > Race and Performance in the Nineteenth Century > Black Shakespeare: Making Ira Aldridge Visible Red Velvet in Performance > Temporality > Sound > Metatheatricality > Staging the Characters Performance History and Critical Reception Themes > Tradition > Anti-Black Racism and Stereotypes of Black Masculinity > Forgotten Histories > Englishness and National Identity RED VELVET Notes