Red Velvet Presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at the Michael R. Klein Theatre, Washington, DC (review)

Reviewed by: Red Velvet Presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at the Michael R. Klein Theatre, Washington, DC Emily MacLeod Red Velvet Presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at the Michael R. Klein Theatre, Washington, DC. 18 June–17 July 2022. Written by Lolita Chakrabarti. Directed by Jade King Carroll. Set design by You-Shin Chen. Costume design by Rodrigo Muñoz. Lighting design by Yuki Nakase Link. Sound and music composition by Karin Graybash. Dramaturgy by Soyica Colbert and Drew Lichtenberg. Voice and text coaching by Lisa Beley and Kim James Bey. Fight and intimacy consulting by Sierra Young and Chelsea Pace. With Samuel Adams (Casimir/Henry Forrester), Jaye Ayres-Brown (Charles Kean), David Bishins (Terence/Bernard Warde), Amari Cheatom (Ira Aldridge), Emily Deforest (Ellen Tree), Shannon Dorsey (Connie), Michael Glenn (Pierre Laporte), and Tro Shaw (Halina/Betty/Margaret). As I entered the Michael R. Klein Theatre for the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Lolita Chakrabarti’s Red Velvet, I saw a red and gold costume displayed in front of the curtain on stage left, waiting to be filled by an actor whose star status matched the opulent robe. It was revealed to be African American actor Ira Aldridge’s costume for the role of King Lear, which he played towards the end of his life. Chakrabarti’s play moves through time and space, between the Theatre Royal at Covent Garden in London in 1833 and a Polish theater in 1867. It also shows two different Aldridges, first the world-weary actor who had been touring the Continent for years playing Shakespeare’s greatest roles, and then the energetic young man on the cusp of stardom. A shadowy presence haunted this production in both settings, however: the absent star Edmund Kean, whose ailments opened the door to Aldridge’s Covent Garden debut as Othello, though the memory of his performance stood in the way of Aldridge’s success. The turntable on the stage swiftly transported the action between these different venues and revealed additional set decoration that underscored the menacing absent presence of white English celebrities like Kean who challenged Aldridge’s appearance on the London stage. While the old Kean never appeared onstage, his portraits filled the walls of the dressing room that Aldridge used, looming over him as he celebrated after his first performance. In act two, when Aldridge read the negative and racist reviews of his performance, he paced in a parlor adorned with paintings of foxhunting, a brutal tradition associated exclusively with the white British upper class, as Connie, the Jamaican maidservant who attended on the actors at Covent Garden, looked on. Staging the only scene in which the [End Page 157] two Black characters in the play converse with this backdrop suggested that in some ways they were like the foxes in the pictures, exhausted by outrunning the oppressive power of whiteness in their lives. These design elements, part of You-Shin Chen’s intricate set, made the walls talk and underscored the hurdles that Aldridge needed to clear in order to be accepted as the star actor that he so desperately wanted to be. The literal architecture of the space worked against this desire and mirrored the way that racist structures hampered his progress: even those who professed to be his allies ultimately turned against him when it came to challenging the institutional traditions of the playhouse. A strong acting ensemble made Red Velvet a treat to watch. Amari Cheatom, in his portrayal of both the older and younger versions of Aldridge, explored the actor’s passions, heartache, joy, and sorrow with power and nuance. Samuel Adams (understudying for Jaye Ayres-Brown at this performance) gave a (somewhat less subtle) foppish portrayal of Charles Kean. The audience chuckled at Kean’s indignation when company manager Pierre chose to sub in Aldridge as Othello. Given that Charles was the son of the star Edmund, it seemed only natural that he should be heir apparent to his father’s roles. This “usurpation” of his rightful place by Aldridge reflected the underlying themes of riot, rebellion, and revolution traced throughout the play. Emily Deforest’s delightful performance as Ellen Tree, the actress who played Desdemona and who...