Deep Are The Roots

Trailblazers Who Changed Black British Theatre
The History Press, 2021

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Deep Are the Roots (The History Press) celebrates the pioneers of black British theatre, beginning in 1825 when Ira Aldridge made history as the first black actor to play Shakespeare’s Othello in the United Kingdom, and ending in 1975 with the success of Britain’s first black-led theatre company. Includes:

  • A long-overdue critique of Laurence Olivier’s Othello
  • The forgotten story of Paul Molyneaux, a Shakespearean actor of the Victorian era
  • Twentieth-century trailblazers Paul Robeson, Florence Mills, Edric Connor, Gordon Heath and Errol John
  • Ground-breaking work of playwrights at the Royal Court
  • The first black drama school students and pioneering theatre companies
  • Three influential dramatists of the 1970s: Mustapha Matura, Michael Abbensetts and Alfred Fagon

Photo: Alan J. Robertson

STEPHEN BOURNE