Ira Aldridge: The Early Years, 1807-1833 (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora)

Amazon.com Price: $40.66 (as of 10/11/2019 12:56 PST- Details)

Categories: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Description

Ira Aldridge: The Early Years, 1807-1833 chronicles the upward thrust of one of the most brand new world’s first black classical actors, as he ascended from an impoverished childhood in New York City to a career as a celebrated thespian at the British stage. After a successful debut in London in 1825, Aldridge started touring the British provinces, billing himself grandiloquently as the “African Roscius,” and attracting crowds with his powerful presence and style. He received accolades not only as a tragedian in classic roles such as Othello and Oroonoko but also as a comic actor in popular farces and musicals. In 1833, when a bill to abolish slavery was once being debated in Parliament, he was once referred to as back to London to perform at one of the most city’s most prestigious theaters, where his appearance, now under his own name but also billed as “a native of Senegal,” created quite a lot of controversy. In dealing with Aldridge’s emergence as a professional actor in the UK, Lindfors here records in detail the ups and downs of his itinerant existence in a world where no theatergoer had ever seen any person like him on stage before. Aldridge was once genuinely a unique phenomenon in Britain at a pivotal point in history. Bernth Lindfors is Professor Emeritus of English and African Literatures, University of Texas at Austin, and editor of Ira Aldridge: The African Roscius (University of Rochester Press, 2007).

Related products

Home » Shop » Books » Subjects » Arts and Photography » History and Criticism » History » Americas » United States » Hispanic American » Ira Aldridge: The Early Years, 1807-1833 (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora)

Recent Products