#BlackHistoryMonth2022 Red Velvet

British actor Adrian Lester, husband of playwright Lolita Chakrabarti

FEBRUARY

by Lolita Chakrabarti (no photo)

Finish date: 25 January 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: A++++
Review:

Bad news: Nothing to mention….

Good news The title kept ringing in my ear …what is the link between “Red Velvet” and what I’m reading. It is what young Ira sees viewing plays from the high balcony of the Park Theatre in NYC…what we all see when visiting a great theatre…the red curtain! “…something about velvet, a deep promise of what’s to come”. Aldrige as a child was “…under a spell at the back of the gods (actors), a sea of red below filled with expectations of greatness.”

Good news: Structure made the play easy to follow. I always put the scenes in order before I read a play…it helps me immerse myself into the world of the actors…giving me a hint where the play is going. Chakrabarti bookends the play: scene 1 with scene 7
It looks like too many characters..but in most scenes it is a group of actors discussing the play they are to perform, very readable.

Good news: In just a few short scenes ….Ms Chakarbarti conveys to the reader what it is like to be a black actor. What is it like to have your acting skills reduced to the color of your skin. This play is based on the little-known, but true story of Ira Aldridge.

Good news: Message: politics in theatre…in spite of all the obstacles in 1833 London……talent will always shine through. Issue: a black actor touching, fighting and killing Desdemona in front of a shocked British public and the theatre board members.

Good news: The playwright is very subtle alluding to the new Salvery Abolition Act (1833). We sense the political unrest in London through the actor’s dialogue.
Parliament was about to abolish slavery in most British colonies.
This mirrors the “unrest” on stage as well!

Personal: This was how a play should be written..from the inside. Lolita Chakabarti is a trained actress at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) and knows what an actor and the audience need. This was a delight to read. If you look at the cover…it is Adrian Lester another RADA actor, he starred in the play and is …Lolita Chakabarti’s husband.