The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Lolita Chakrabarti’s Red Velvet at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, until April 21st,
Based on the true story of Ira Aldridge, an American-born Black actor. Specializing in the tragedies; Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Shylock in the Merchant of Venice he made his name as one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of his time.
Told mainly in flashback as Ira, nearing the end of his career, recounts his first occasion treading the boards as Othello in London, in 1833 as the abolitionism movement took hold in British Empire. Against this backdrop, Aldridge takes over The Moor when Edmund Kean, the acclaimed lead of a theatre company takes ill. The attitude of the company echoes that of the public mood protesting in the streets, which sadly still reverberates in today’s current political climate. An intense actor, his groundbreaking performing style rocks London’s theatre establishment with ramifications that carry throughout his career, as we see in the the 1867 present day of the play.
Directed by Omari Newton, against Amir Ofek’s simple Set Design and CS Fergusson-Vaux’s opulent costumes, Quincy Armorer embodies Ira Aldridge sharing the actor’s intensity from old age to youth and back. Providing lighter moments to balance Armorer’s strength, Tess Degenstein brilliantly does triple duty as a present day reporter, whilst also playing a member of the flashback theatre company as well as Aldridge’s first wife, Margaret.
Chakrabarti’s work provides plenty of balance between the characters, Ellen Tree (Lindsey Angell) and Charlie (son of Edmund) Kean (Sebastien Archibald), though engaged, they sit on both sides of the debate over Aldridge joining the cast. While Degenstein’s vapid Betty counters Nathan Kay’s wide-eyed liberal, Nathan elicit laughs with their exuberant. Anthony F. Ingram’s Bernard Warde speaks before thinking, while Kyla Ward shares little but speaks volumes. Wrangling the players within the play, John Emmet Tracy plays theatre manager Pierre Laporte, who tries to support his friend Aldridge while also trying to reign in his ego and aggressive style. The script also does a good job of maintaining a balance in the content, keeping it topical and historically relevant creating a thought provoking but very entertaining two hour evening of theatre.
Red Velvet plays at the Arts Club Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, 2750 Granville Street, until April 21, 2024. Find details, showtimes and tickets online at artsclub.com