IN CONTINUAL CELEBRATION OF BLACK CULTURE Until the early nineteenth century, Black participation in the theatre was based on imitation of the forms of entertainment that were legitimized by the cultural establishment. The Park Theatre, which featured English actors, was one of the oldest theatrical institutions in New York. Among regular visitors to the segregated section of the theatre were two fledgling Black actors, James Hewlett and Ira Aldridge, who were great admirers of these performances. So impressed were they that Hewlett, who became anointed as Americas first Black tragic actor, organized a company of Black actors into the African Grove Theatre in 1820, with the sole purpose of performing Shakespearean dramas. The company performed in lower Manhattan to a mixed audience, but was rebuked by an intolerant press and rudely jeered by white hooligans. After the company collapsed, Ira Aldridge, acknowledged as the second great Black tragedian, left for England in 1824, and went on to win wide fame and acclaim in Europe as a Shakespearean actor. Excerpted from: Paul Carter Harrisons In The Shadow of the Great White Way
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 18:09:33 +0000
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