Ira Aldridge

Performing Shakespeare in Europe, 1852-1855

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Performing Arts, Theatre, History & Criticism
Cover of the book Ira Aldridge by Bernth Lindfors, Boydell & Brewer
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Bernth Lindfors ISBN: 9781580468329
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Publication: December 15, 2013
Imprint: University of Rochester Press Language: English
Author: Bernth Lindfors
ISBN: 9781580468329
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Publication: December 15, 2013
Imprint: University of Rochester Press
Language: English

Ira Aldridge: Performing Shakespeare in Europe, 1852-1855, the third volume of Bernth Lindfors's award-winning biography, traces the American-born black classical actor's itinerary on his first Continental tour. Starting in Brussels and following Aldridge up the Rhine to Basel, on to Berlin and Vienna, and cities in Prussia and Hungary, Lindfors recounts the major performances and analyzes audience responses to them. Because European audiences wanted to see this "African" actor in Shakespearean roles rather than in the melodramas and farces that were popular in Britain, Aldridge concentrated almost exclusively on performing as Othello, Shylock, Macbeth, and Richard III. He performed the roles in English even when acting with local companies who spoke in German, Hungarian, or another European language. Aldridge's impressive manner of interpreting these characters won him many honors, awards, and medals, some bestowed by heads of state or by national academies. Drawing on myriad reviews, playbills, and letters, many of them penned by Aldridge himself, Lindfors examines in detail Aldridge's interpretations of these timeless characters and shows why these were Aldridge's glory years. Bernth Lindfors, professor emeritus of English and African Literatures, University of Texas at Austin, is the author of Ira Aldridge: The Early Years, 1807-1833 and Ira Aldridge: The Vagabond Years, 1833-1852, both published by the University of Rochester Press in 2011.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Ira Aldridge: Performing Shakespeare in Europe, 1852-1855, the third volume of Bernth Lindfors's award-winning biography, traces the American-born black classical actor's itinerary on his first Continental tour. Starting in Brussels and following Aldridge up the Rhine to Basel, on to Berlin and Vienna, and cities in Prussia and Hungary, Lindfors recounts the major performances and analyzes audience responses to them. Because European audiences wanted to see this "African" actor in Shakespearean roles rather than in the melodramas and farces that were popular in Britain, Aldridge concentrated almost exclusively on performing as Othello, Shylock, Macbeth, and Richard III. He performed the roles in English even when acting with local companies who spoke in German, Hungarian, or another European language. Aldridge's impressive manner of interpreting these characters won him many honors, awards, and medals, some bestowed by heads of state or by national academies. Drawing on myriad reviews, playbills, and letters, many of them penned by Aldridge himself, Lindfors examines in detail Aldridge's interpretations of these timeless characters and shows why these were Aldridge's glory years. Bernth Lindfors, professor emeritus of English and African Literatures, University of Texas at Austin, is the author of Ira Aldridge: The Early Years, 1807-1833 and Ira Aldridge: The Vagabond Years, 1833-1852, both published by the University of Rochester Press in 2011.

More books from Boydell & Brewer

Cover of the book Servants in Rural Europe by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book Practical Vocal Acoustics by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book A Companion to Mia Couto by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book Writing the Revolution by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book Marching to the Canon by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book Medievalism in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book The Other Friars by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book The Front Line Runs through Every Woman by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book Electricity in Africa by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book Reading Mahler by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book The Making of Medieval History by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book Afro-European Trade in the Atlantic World by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book Music and Musical Composition at the American Academy in Rome by Bernth Lindfors
Cover of the book West End Broadway by Bernth Lindfors
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy