Ira Aldridge on the Stage : An Anthology

Demonstrates how the career of Britain’s first major Black actor, Ira Aldridge, transformed a range of dramatic genres, including tragedy, melodrama and minstrel plays.

How does theatre history change when viewed through the life of Ira Aldridge, the first Black star of the British stage? Collating an anthology of plays in which Aldridge frequently performed, this volume proposes Aldridge’s career intervened in British and US debates about slavery and racial equality while reshaping the conventions of British theatre. Aldridge’s repertoire offers readers a way to engage with a long history of racial representation; the anthology ranges from 1721 to 1846 and includes a variety of genres, namely a tragedy, a proto-minstrel burletta, melodramas, and a minstrel play. As Aldridge was limited to a narrow range of roles, his career is uniquely accessible for study. At the same time, the introduction stresses how Aldridge pushed against the boundaries a white culture industry imposed, even as he drastically re-envisioned longstanding portions of the repertoire.