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Ira Aldridge in Manchester
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 January 2009
Extract
On Saturday, 10 February, 1827, the Manchester Guardian announced the coming appearance of ‘the African Roscius’ at the Theatre Royal, Manchester. After referring to ‘his success in New York and in all the principal theatres in the United States’ and to his performances ‘in the Theatres Royal, Bath, Bristol, Brighton, Plymouth, Exeter, and upwards of fifty nights at the Royal Coburg Theatre, London, with universal approbation’, the notice states that he will spend one night in Manchester on his way to Edinburgh and Glasgow. A note in the Manchester Courier the following week (17.2.1827) emphasizes the adventurous nature of the theatrical event, telling the public that ‘the spirited manager of this establishment seems determined to spare no pains to render the theatre as attractive as circumstances will permit’. The attitude behind this retains a protective ambiguity towards the experiment.
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References
Notes
1. Arthur Schomberg's List Showing the Theatres & Plays in Various European Cities where Ira Aldridge, the African Roscius, acted during theyears 1824–67 records performances at the Coberg Theatre in London in October and November 1825: in the Theatre, Sheffield, on 11 January 1827: and in the Theatre, Halifax, on 24 January 1827. I am indebted to Dr Bernth Lindfors of the University of Texas for recording Aldridge's performances in Brighton, 13–17 December 1825: in Bristol 1–3 February 1826: and in Exeter 25–28 April 1826. Thus only the mention of Bath and Plymouth could be an exaggeration; if so, this anticipates the visits of 1832 and 1850.
2. Arthur Schomberg, Curator of 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library, compiled the list, a copy of which may be obtained for research purposes only.
3. Morning Post 17 12 1825.Google Scholar
4. For an account of these and other plays in Ira Aldridge's repertoire, see Marshall, & Stock, Ira Aldridge, The Negro Tragedian, pub. Rockliff, London, 1958, pp. 155–7, 75–6, 85–8.Google Scholar
5. Gautier, Théophile. Voyage en Russie. Paris 1895, pp. 254–6.Google Scholar
6. Manchester Gazette, 24 02 1827.Google Scholar
7. Manchester Courier, 24 02 1827.Google Scholar
8. Wheeler's Manchester Chronicle. 17 02 1827.Google Scholar
9. See Playbills for the Theatre Royal, Manchester, in Manchester Central Library.
10. Marshall, & Stock, , Ira Aldridge, p. 103.Google Scholar
11. See Cowhig, Ruth, ‘Actors, Black and Tawny, in the role of Othello’. Theatre Research International, Vol. IV No. 22. 02 1979Google Scholar: and an essay in The Black Presence in English Literature, ed. Dabydeen, David, 1985, pp. 1–25.Google Scholar
12. For a full account of this identification see Ruth Cowhig, Article in Burlington Magazine, 12 1983.Google Scholar The other version of this portrait is identical except that the angle is marginally different, and the background of clouds is more prominent and colourful. In the Manchester portrait, the background is of a sombre greenish grey, and the only bright colour is in the red stripes of the sash.
13. Lamb, Charles, ‘On the Tragedies of Shakespeare, considered with reference to their fitness for Stage Representation’, pub. in The Reflector 1811Google Scholar, quoted in Shakespeare Criticism selected by Smith, D. Nichol, World's Classics, Oxford University Press 1916, p. 234.Google Scholar
14. Coleridge, S. T., Lectures on Shakespeare, 1813Google Scholar, quoted in Shakespeare Criticism, p. 302.Google Scholar
15. Manchester Examiner 4 07 1846.Google Scholar