Versai Knight and Marcus Ivey Photo by Broken Chain Photography

This is a play about acting and actors, centered around one specific actor of the 19th century named Ira Aldridge. Ira Aldridge's story is an amazing one, but it was pretty much forgotten until British actress and playwright Lolita Chakrabarti brought him back from oblivion when her play, Red Velvet, opened in London in 2012. Why should Ira Aldridge not be forgotten? Because he was most likely the first Black man to play a Shakespeare role on the London stage: Othello.

Aldridge was not British by birth. He was an African American born in New York in 1807, but with such limited opportunities for Black actors in America at that time, he took off for England when he was 17 years old and never returned to the United States. He had a forty-year career playing all over Europe, including Russia. (The British Empire and the Russian Empire both abolished slavery before the United States did.)

He died in Poland in 1867, and that is where we first meet him in this play, shortly before his death when he is preparing to go on stage as King Lear (in whiteface). The framing device introduces him to us as an older man, having endured a life scarred by racism. We see him again in the same dressing room at the end of the play, but the bulk of the play is his recollection of an incident in 1833 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in London.

Edmund Kean, one of the most celebrated Shakespearean actors of the time, collapses during a performance of Othello. (This actually happened; in real life, he died a few weeks later.) Because the show must go on, the theater manager makes the daring decision to bring in Aldridge to play Othello. The London audience is shocked, not just by the fact that a Black man is touching a white woman, but by the passion and physicality of his acting. One might say that he introduces American-style "method" acting to the tradition-bound British, but they don't see it that way. What they see is the brutality they associate with his race. In real life, he only did two performances before he was fired.

This is a well-written script, although the opening scene could be a couple minutes shorter. Once we get to London in 1833, it moves right along, thanks to Levi Gore's fluent directing and wonderful performances by the entire cast. The star, of course, is Marcus Ivey as Aldridge. We sense his increasing frustration at being told that he should not perform the role of Othello as he feels it should be performed, and at always being judged by the color of his skin. When we see him as an old man, he may be bitter, but not defeated. It's an excellent performance.

Versai Knight is perfect as Ellen Tree, the actress playing Desdemona opposite Aldridge. My favorite scene in the play is when she instructs Aldridge on "this is how we have always played these parts" and then she comes around to realizing how phony that type of acting is. David Yakubik is all bluster and bruised ego as Charles Kean, who thinks he should inherit the role of Othello since he's Edmund's son. It's a wildly entertaining performance.

The rest of the roles are very ably played by Maria Latiolais, Sebastien Moulton, Philip J. Shortell, Nicee Brown, and Parker Owen. Donna Marie Barra stage manages and operates the board flawlessly, as always. The set by Mattie Roos, costumes by Kaylee Lynora Silcocks-Gore, and lighting design by Riley Lewis are all top notch.

It might just be coincidence that West End Productions scheduled this play during Black History Month, but it certainly is the right play for the right time, and that time is not just 1833 in London.

Red Velvet, produced by West End Productions, runs through March 1, 2026, at the North Fourth Theatre, 4904 Fourth Street NW in Albuquerque NM. Performances Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. For tickets and information, please visit westendproductions.org.