Book Review: Ira Aldridge - The African Roscius by Bernth Lindfors

Ira Aldridge -- a black New Yorker -- was one of nineteenth-century Europe's greatest actors. By the time he began touring in Europe he was principally a Shakespearean actor, playing such classic characters as Shylock, Macbeth, Richard III, and King Lear. Although his frequent public appearances made him the most visible black man in the world by mid-nineteenth century, today Aldridge tends to be a forgotten figure, seldom mentioned in histories of British and European theater. This collection restores the luster to Aldridge's reputation by examining his extraordinary achievements against all odds. The early essays offer biographical information, while later essays examine his critical and popular reception throughout the world. Taken together, these diverse approaches to Aldridge offer a fuller understanding and heightened appreciation of a remarkable man who had an exceptionally interesting life and a spectacular career.

After reading "The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race", I decided to pick up some more books about the history of Black people playing Shakespeare. First up - Ira Aldridge.

Ira was, reportedly, the first Black man to perform Shakespeare plays in the UK. He seems to have been incredibly popular with audiences - although less so with some critics.

The book contains all manner of contemporary accounts - reviews, pamphlets, and letters. They give us a fascinating glimpse into what the reaction was from all sections of society. There are some astoundingly racist contemporary comments - apparently Black people's lips are the wrong shape to pronounce English properly! On that note, because of the verbatim reproduction of documents, there are a wide variety of offensive words and sentiments embedded in the story. The past isn't always a pretty place - and we have to acknowledge that.

Similarly, Ira Aldridge himself isn't treated as a saint. Clearly a talented individual - but with some disturbing aspects to his personal life. The book doesn't shy away from discussing him as a complete human.

It isn't quite an autobiography - there's no narrative arc. Instead, the book is a bit of a hodge-podge of essays - and suffers a bit from being repetitious. One of the essays is a series of letters to Aldridge from his admirers - which might be interesting to the completionist, but otherwise just feels like padding. Unfortunately, the eBook version is missing the images from the printed version. That's just hostile from the publisher.

Ultimately, it is a fascinating glimpse into the life of a man who helped redefine audience's expectations of Shakespeare. It's also contains a number of disturbing facts about the past - I had no idea that African-American New Yorkers were banned by the police from playing Shakespeare!

It also made me think about how we define civilisation. Aldridge was performing towards the end of the legality of the slave trade in Britain. He became a symbol to many people - "proving" that Black people were capable of attaining moral and intellectual greatness. Why is acting in the classics seen as something which elevates men above each other?

If you have even a passing interest in the way Shakespeare was performed, and how one man became such a star only to fade into obscurity - this is a great starting point.