Red Velvet tickets at the Garrick Theatre, London

Kenneth Branagh transfers the acclaimed Tricycle Theatre production of Red Velvet starring Adrian Lester to the Garrick Theatre.

This multi-award winning play, which originally premiered at the Tricycle Theatre, before transferring to St Ann’s Warehouse in New York, will be the third production in the Plays at the Garrick Season and will be directed by Indhu Rubasingha. Olivier-Award winner Adrian Lester will reprise his role as Ira Aldridge.

Playwright Lolita Chakrabarti’s Red Velvet is an entertaining and illuminating play of imagined experiences based on the true story of Ira Aldridge – an American actor who was asked to take over the role of Othello in a Theatre Royal stage production, a remarkable thing, for he lived in the 19th century and happened to be a black man.

Red Velvet will play a limited run from 23 January 2016 until 27 February 2016 at the Garrick Theatre.

STORY

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage whilst playing Othello. A young black American actor has been asked to take over the role. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?

CAST

Olivier-award winner Adrian Lester will lead the cast.

The full cast includes: Ayesha Antoine (Connie), Simon Chandler (Bernard Warde/Terence), Alexander Cobb (Henry Forrester/Casimir), Mark Edel-Hunt (Charles Kean), Emun Elliott (Pierre Laporte), Charlotte Lucas (Ellen Tree), Caroline Martin (Halina Wozniak/Margaret Aldridge) and Amy Morgan (Betty Lovell).

CREATIVE TEAM

Lolita Chakrabarti’s play will be directed by Indhu Rubasingham.

REVIEWS

★★★★ ‘Informative, entertaining, thought-provoking and beautifully played. Highly recommended’ The Telegraph
★★★★ ‘Lester’s magnificent acting makes you nostalgic for a vanished gestural style’ The Guardian
★★★★ ‘A performance of eloquent intensity — noble and detailed but with fire at its core.’ Evening Standard
★★★★ ‘A triumphant return for Adrian Lester as pioneering black actor Ira Aldridge.’ Time Out

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VIDEO: Adrian Lester as Hamlet: ‘To be or not to be’

Adrian Lester marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death  - speaking Hamlet’s soliloquy ‘To be or not to be’  To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, The Guardian has asked leading actors to perform key speeches from his plays. Here, Adrian Lester speaks Hamlet’s soliloquy from act III, scene 1, in which the prince reflects on mortality and considers taking his own life. Read the full text for this speech To be, or not to be- that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them. To die- to sleep- No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die- to sleep. To sleep- perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub! For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. There's the respect That makes calamity of so long life. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of th' unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? Who would these fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death- The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn No traveller returns- puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry And lose the name of action.- Soft you now! The fair Ophelia!- Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins rememb'red. BOOKING Book tickets to Red Velvet starring Adrian Lester Book tickets to Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company

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Reviews round-up: Red Velvet at the Garrick Theatre

A reviews round-up for Red Velvet at the Garrick Theatre. Adrien Lester reprises his award winning performance in Lolita Chakrabarti's play Red Velvet.  Putting in a 'performance of eloquent intensity — noble and detailed but with fire at its core' Lester impressed the critics with his revisiting of Ira Aldridge - the pioneering black actor. An informative, entertaining, thought-provoking and beautifully played piece, Lolita Chakrabarti’s play about racial prejudice is as current today as it was on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1883. Red Velvet is a must see. Red Velvet runs until 27 February 2016 at the Garrick Theatre. BOOKING Book tickets to Red Velvet

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First Look: Rehearsal images of Red Velvet starring Adrian Lester

Rehearsal images for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s Red Velvet starring Adrian Lester have been released. Red Velvet is an entertaining and illuminating play of imagined experiences based on the true story of Ira Aldridge - an American actor who was asked to take over the role of Othello in a Theatre Royal stage production, a remarkable thing, for he lived in the 19th century and happened to be a black man. The production, which originally premiered at the Tricycle Theatre in 2012 before transferring to St Ann’s Warehouse in New York in 2014, is written by Lolita Chakrabarti with direction by Indhu Rubasingham and stars Adrian Lester as Ira Aldridge. The full cast includes: Ayesha Antoine (Connie), Simon Chandler (Bernard Warde/Terence), Alexander Cobb (Henry Forrester/Casimir), Mark Edel-Hunt (Charles Kean), Emun Elliott (Pierre Laporte), Charlotte Lucas (Ellen Tree), Caroline Martin (Halina Wozniak/Margaret Aldridge) and Amy Morgan (Betty Lovell). Red Velvet is the third play in the inaugural Plays at the Garrick season and will play at the Garrick Theatre from 23 January 2016 until 27 February 2016. BOOKING Book tickets to Red Velvet

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Kenneth Branagh to stage Red Velvet at the Garrick Theatre

Kenneth Branagh is to transfer the highly acclaimed drama Red Velvet as part of his season of Plays at the Garrick. The production was a great success at The Tricycle theatre in 2012 and in Brooklyn but had struggled to find someone willing to transfer the show to the West End; fortunately Branagh who had seen the Tricycle production was looking for a play to run for five weeks as part of his inaugural season. Adrian Lester will reprise the role of Ira Aldridge the pioneering African-American Shakespearean actor who was asked to step in to play Othello at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden when famous actor Edmund Kean fell ill. Indhu Rubasingham who directed the play said ‘Ira was white-washed out of history, and we struggled to put him back front and centre. The play’s come at a perfect time, people are discussing diversity in culture and in everyday life — and here it is on stage, for real.’ The play, written by Lolita Chakrabarti will be directed by Indhu Rubasingham. Red Velvet will run from 23 January 2016 until 27 February 2016 at the Garrick theatre. BOOKING Book tickets to Red Velvet

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