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BBAS and History: Ira Aldridge

The Multicultural Shakespeare project has made a major contribution to Shakespeare in Ten Acts - the British Library's "dazzling" exhibition in honour of Shakespeare's life and influence on the world. One room is dedicated to Ira Aldridge, Paul Robeson and their present-day successors:

"Room 6 [...] documents the London performances of the African American actor Ira Aldridge as Othello in 1825, but goes far beyond that historical moment to consider colour-blind casting, to interview the actor Huigh Quarshie on racism in the play, and even to posit a professional rivalry between Laurence Olivier and Paul Robeson.' (Times Literary Supplement)

For an outline of Aldridge's career, read Tony Howard's investigation into the actor's reception in London - and in Coventry, where he became manager of the Coventry Theatre for a season in 1828, when slavery in the British colonies was still legal - see BBC History extra online:

http://www.historyextra.com/article/culture/ira-aldridge-shakespeare%E2%80%99s-black-othello