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Creative Team
Lolita Chakrabarti - Playwright Cherissa Richards - Director Julie Fox - Set and Props Designer Ming Wong - Costume Designer Arun Srinivasan - Lighting Designer Thomas Ryder Payne - Sound Designer Rais Clarke-Mendes - Assistant Director Siobhan Richardson - Fight Director Lisa Nighswander - Head of Props Chris Faris - Head of Wardrobe Jennifer Parr - Stage Manager Farnoosh Talebpour - Assistant Stage Manager Cast Kyle Blair - Pierre Laporte Ellen Denny - Ellen Tree Starr Domingue - Connie Nathan Howe - Casimir / Henry Forrester Patrick McManus - Terrence / Bernard Warde Jeff Lillico - Charles Kean Allan Louis - Ira Aldridge Amelia Sargisson - Halina Wozniak / Betty Lovell / Margaret Aldridge |
Crow's Theatre: First Day of Rehearsals for Red Velvet
Crow's Theatre: Audiences are Leaping to their Feet
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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? Lolita Chakrabarti's play creates imagined experiences based on the little-known, but true, story of Ira Aldridge, an African-American actor who, in the nineteenth century, built an incredible reputation on the stages of London and Europe.
Production Photos by John Lauener
Reviews/Recognition
BroadwayWorld: Winners Announced for the 43rd Annual Dora Awards
The Globe and Mail: Crow's Theatre's Plays Red Velvet and Uncle Vanya Lead the Way in Nominations for Toronto's Dora Mavor Moore Awards
The Globe and Mail: Red Velvet’s portrait of 19th century Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge brings the thunder to Crow’s Theatre *Critic's Pick
"Director Cherissa Richards and another enviable Crow’s Theatre ensemble bring Red Velvet to the Toronto stage smoothly, successfully ironing out the kinks in the structure of the script."
"Director Cherissa Richards and another enviable Crow’s Theatre ensemble bring Red Velvet to the Toronto stage smoothly, successfully ironing out the kinks in the structure of the script."
Ludwig Van Toronto: Crow’s Theatre Brings Chakrabarti’s Masterful Red Velvet To Vivid Life
"I am continually surprised and delighted by the crop of young new female directors taking their place in Canadian theatre life, and the very talented Cherissa Richards is one of them. Her careful rendering of character and pacing in Red Velvet shows a great command of the stage, and she is a talent to watch. The way she has orchestrated the scene changes is very inventive."
"Red Velvet engulfs you, envelops you, thrills you. Red Velvet is a total emotional theatre experience.The stage pulses with life from beginning to end."
"I am continually surprised and delighted by the crop of young new female directors taking their place in Canadian theatre life, and the very talented Cherissa Richards is one of them. Her careful rendering of character and pacing in Red Velvet shows a great command of the stage, and she is a talent to watch. The way she has orchestrated the scene changes is very inventive."
"Red Velvet engulfs you, envelops you, thrills you. Red Velvet is a total emotional theatre experience.The stage pulses with life from beginning to end."
Slotkin Letter: Review: Red Velvet
"Director Cherissa Richards also beautifully creates this charged world...A thoughtful, nuanced production with a compelling performance by Allan Louis as Ira Aldridge."
"Director Cherissa Richards also beautifully creates this charged world...A thoughtful, nuanced production with a compelling performance by Allan Louis as Ira Aldridge."
Lights Up Toronto: Red Velvet at Crow's Theatre
"An ultra-slick production, and extraordinarily polished...it could easily be at the Shaw."
"An ultra-slick production, and extraordinarily polished...it could easily be at the Shaw."
The Star: Red Velvet
"Richards’ production leans into the material’s entertainment value as well as its power to educate, and the matinee audience at the performance I attended laughed and gasped throughout, and chattered excitedly afterward about the timely nature of the material and the fascination of the real story that inspired it."
"Richards’ production leans into the material’s entertainment value as well as its power to educate, and the matinee audience at the performance I attended laughed and gasped throughout, and chattered excitedly afterward about the timely nature of the material and the fascination of the real story that inspired it."
Our Theatre Voice: Review of Red Velvet
"Stellar production...Pure genius!...Gorgeous!...[The] staging is impeccable...A love letter to theatre."
"Stellar production...Pure genius!...Gorgeous!...[The] staging is impeccable...A love letter to theatre."
barczablog: Red Velvet History Lesson
"In a season of excellence Red Velvet is an affirmation of the power of live theatre, the best thing I’ve seen yet. Chakrabarti’s play is perfect"
"In a season of excellence Red Velvet is an affirmation of the power of live theatre, the best thing I’ve seen yet. Chakrabarti’s play is perfect"
James Karas: Review of Crow's Theatre Production of Chakrabarti's Play
"Cherissa Richards’ direction is exemplary leaving us with a splendid production of a stunning play...[A] superb production with stunning acting."
"Cherissa Richards’ direction is exemplary leaving us with a splendid production of a stunning play...[A] superb production with stunning acting."
Sesa Arts Magazine: Red Velvet’s tale of Black actor Ira Aldridge confronts “life out there, on our stage, in here”
"Energetic, ebullient and inspirational."
"Energetic, ebullient and inspirational."
