Ira Aldridge was 17 years old when he left his father’s home to pursue his dream of becoming a professional actor in England. Born in 1807 New York, Aldridge grew up during at a time when chattel slavery was legal, and black actors who performed works associated with Anglo culture, were met with chastisement and violence. Alone in a strange land, Ira would go on to become one of the most celebrated actors in the world. Red Velvet, is the story of an actor and the performance that transformed him into an international star of the theater and seminal figure in the narrative of African American achievement.Shirley Basfield Dunlap is an Associate Professor in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and Coordinator of Theater Arts at Morgan State University. She is directing this new production of Red Velvet, and she joins me in Studio A. The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s Maryland premiere of “Red Velvet” by Lolita Chakrabarti includes free public events in the community made possible by partnerships with the arts and culture community of Baltimore. For more information, click the link below: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T-dxzeLaONAuOEfWTBFHAwi5K-eTOyDsLpZ82nzbRFM/edit?usp=sharing