The History Press, 2025
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TRAILBLAZERS OF BLACK BRITISH THEATRE begins 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. This new revised edition includes three additional chapters about pioneering Black women: the playwright Una Marson and actresses Ida Shepley and Dame Cleo Laine. Also 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, Elisabeth Welch, 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
“Stephen Bourne is a hero of our history.”
– BERNARDINE EVARISTO
