Red Velvet (2012)
Thu 11 Oct 2012 – Sat 24 Nov 2012
By Lolita Chakrabarti
World Premiere
“It’s like being at a crossroads – a point of absolute, unequivocal change.
It makes the blood rush.”
Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage whilst 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?
Imagined experiences based on the true story of Ira Aldridge.
Cast includes Adrian Lester, Ferdinand Kingsley, Rachel Finnegan, Simon Chandler, Natasha Gordon, Ryan Kiggell, Charlotte Lucas and Eugene O’Hare.
Creatives include Tom Piper (Designer), Oliver Fenwick (Lighting Designer), Paul Ardatti (Sound Designer) and Paul Englishby (Composer).
‘A layered and revealing play, superbly acted’ The Independent on Sunday
‘What an incisive, fervent beginning…Rubasingham’s production glows’
A slice of theatrical and racial history combines to make a really great night out.
It’s a cracker of a play: gripping, intelligent and passionate, delivered with wit and vigour by a fine ensemble… A great curtain raiser.
Rubasingham’s production, with its blend of permanently visible actors and 19th-century footlights, shrewdly underscores Chakrabarti’s point that theatre is forever upset by the shock of the new.
Fiery and funny in equal measure.
An arresting and sometimes very funny play, cogently performed, appealingly designed, and neatly directed by Rubasingham herself.
Lester’s Aldridge is wonderfully stirring.
Lester beautifully captures the pained dignity and irritation of the ageing, ailing actor.
Click here to view the preview trailer