| My review of RED VELVET: Adrian Lester stars in celebrated new play from London | |
| Posted by: | jesse21 01:48 pm EDT 03/30/14 |
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| - Adrian Lester, the renowned British stage actor probably best known to the public for his starring role of Mickey over seven seasons in the TV series Hustle, is making a rare New York appearance in Red Velvet, a play about the all-but-forgotten, Victorian-era black actor Ira Aldridge, now on at Brooklyn’s St. Ann’s Warehouse for a month. You shouldn’t miss him. Those who have seen Mr. Lester over the years in varied roles in the West End ranging from Rosalind in an all-male As You Like It (also BAM in 1994) to Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, from Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd to his Olivier award-winning Bobby in Company, will agree. Or, perhaps you caught him on screen a few months ago when NT Live transmitted its Othello with Mr. Lester in the title role opposite Rory Kinnear’s Iago. In any case, he is playing Othello again within a powerhouse performance (2013 UK Critics’ Circle best actor award) as the then well-known Shakespearean tragedian in mid-nineteenth-century Britain and Europe. Mr. Aldridge was born in New York City in 1807; emigrated to England in 1824; began his career in the provinces; had a disastrous London debut in 1833; then became celebrated all over central and eastern Europe (honored by numerous governments for his contributions to the arts); and died while touring Poland in 1867. I had never heard of this African-American actor before this play, and, in fact, he didn’t come to Mr. Lester’s attention until 1998. Discovering Aldridge is something like becoming acquainted with Solomon Northup of 12 Years a Slave for the first time. Both men suffered life-altering prejudice, Northup with physical torment, Aldridge with verbal and career abuse. Mr. Lester related his discovery of the actor to his wife, the writer Lolita Chakrabarti, who researched the subject extensively and then honed a play which opened at a prime London Fringe venue, the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, under the direction of artistic head, Indhu Rubasingham. It has since played two sold-out engagements there, winning a slew of most promising playwright awards, and will return for a third season following its Brooklyn engagement. It is the scope and resonance of Ms. Chakrabarti’s vision that impresses. She uses theater as a microcosm of an entire society dealing with prejudice and change. And, part of that change is the way acting was in the process of shifting from portraying Shakespearean (and other) characters with broad gestures and big voices to the naturalistic style Aldridge was advocating well before Constantin Stanislavski came along. The play has its problems though. It bookends itself with scenes in a dressing room in Lodz in 1867 during which an ill and irascible Aldridge at the end of his life rails against a novice Polish reporter (Rachel Finnegan) who has sneaked in to obtain an interview. The obviousness of her questions as historical exposition for the audience feels arch. This and a few other portions of the script fall flat in comparison to the thrilling moments. And I found the usage of a black maid (Natasha Gordon) later on heavy-handed even if it made for pertinent commentary. Following the opening scene, the action switches 34 years earlier to backstage at Theatre Royal Covent Garden in 1933. Aldridge, having established his credentials touring in Othello, is making his London debut replacing Edmund Kean who collapsed on stage and is forced out of the production because of ill health. The reactions of the company to his race (and his white wife) vary. He is most vehemently opposed by Kean’s son Charles (Oliver Ryan) who had been playing Iago but now refuses to go on. The transition taking place in acting styles is memorably depicted in a rehearsal of the handkerchief scene with Ellen Tree (a very effective Charlotte Lucas). Aldridge tries to show her how Desdemona should be choked realistically. It is fascinating how she isn’t upset about a black man’s hands around her neck, but is startled by his acting choices which are foreign to her. The best scene is the confrontation between Mr. Lester’s Aldridge and the French-born theater manager Pierre Laporte (a splendid Eugene O’Hare). Laporte hired Aldridge, but now has no choice but to fire him after the first night, following scathing reviews rife with racial slurs and protestations by the public, especially over that choking scene. (The production itself was forced to close down.) Portions of the actual reviews are read aloud and they can send a shiver down your spine. Besides the n word, there are racist comments such as “an African is no more qualified to play Othello than a huge, fat man is to play Falstaff.” (The Spectator); and “the shape of his lips [makes it] utterly impossible for him to speak English” (The Times). Ms. Rubasingham (Sheffield born of Sri Lankan immigrant parents) brings the play to life in a no-nonsense straightforward manner. She directs her company of eight actors to a multitude of fine performances. Tom Piper’s effective set consists of a red velvet stage curtain as a backdrop on a stage flanked with dressing room tables where actors sit and observe when not participating in a scene. There is a stunning visual image about race at the very end but I won’t spoil the surprise. You ought to trek out to St. Ann’s temporary space in Dumbo and see for yourself. ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ - Jesse SIDEBAR: “RED VELVET” opens tonight, Sunday, March 30, 2014, at St. Ann’s Warehouse, 29 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY (see directions on website). Seen at a preview on March 28 (started 8:09pm; ended 10:25pm). Running time, 2 hours, 15 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. Act I: 62 minutes. Act II: 59 minutes. Strictly limited engagement through April 20, 2014. Link to website. - | |
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| re: My review of RED VELVET: Adrian Lester stars in celebrated new play from London | |
| Posted by: | markdr 04:38 pm EDT 03/30/14 |
| In reply to: | My review of RED VELVET: Adrian Lester stars in celebrated new play from London - jesse21 01:48 pm EDT 03/30/14 |
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| Agreed. (See below) Yes, there are problems with the play, especially in Act II, and I am not enamored with the ending. BUT the performances & production enliven what has been a rather lackluster season so far. | |
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| re: My review of RED VELVET: Adrian Lester stars in celebrated new play from London | |
| Posted by: | jesse21 06:19 pm EDT 03/30/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My review of RED VELVET: Adrian Lester stars in celebrated new play from London - markdr 04:38 pm EDT 03/30/14 |
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| - Yes, what a poor season for new plays. The people behind "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" no doubt have reasons for not coming to Broadway until September, but it's too bad because they would clean up at the Tonys this year. - | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message | |
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