Ira Aldridge

The actor Ira Aldridge is shown in this Austrian print in the role of Mungo in the two-act 'afterpiece' opera The Padlock by Charles Dibdin (music) and Isaac Bickerstaffe (text). Mungo had been written in 1768 as a 'blackface' caricature of a West Indian servant. Aldridge, however, subverted the play by turning the character into a more serious and sympathetic role.

Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) was one of the most celebrated Shakespearean actors in history and the first Black actor to achieve international fame. Born in New York City, to a ‘Free Black’ lay preacher, he was educated at the New York African Free School and began his acting career at the African Grove Theatre. Facing discrimination, he left for England in 1824, and made his debut in a low profile production of Orthello, before going on to play the role of Prince Oroonoko of Africa in the melodrama The Revolt of Surinam, Or A Slave's Revenge at Royal Coburg Theatre. He made his name playing Othello at the Covent Garden Theatre in 1833 and subsequently toured Europe and Russia. As well as gaining fame as a tragedian, Aldridge used the closing nights of some of his performances to speak to the audience about social issues facing the United States, Europe and Africa, and advanced the cause of abolitionism.

This print was engraved by the Austrian printmaker Andreas Geiger for the Austrian magazine Wiener Theaterzeitung, a newspaper covering art, literature, music, theatre and social news that was very popular in the Austrian Empire; it ran from 1806-1860, and from 1818 carried illustrations, including portraits of actors and satirical prints. This portrait is based on a daguerrotype photograph by William Paine, which was reproduced as an engraving by T. Hollis c.1850.