Aldridge Theater (Ira Aldridge Theater)

The Ira Aldridge Theater is the main performance space for the Department of Theatre Arts in the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. Designed to create an intimate feel, the venue has a proscenium stage, counterweight system, lighting and sound control areas, and dressing rooms. The theater seats 300 people.

About the Building Name

Ira Aldridge Theater is named for Ira Frederick Aldridge, a world-renowned actor known mostly for roles in plays by William Shakespeare. He was a Black man born in 1807 to free parents when slavery was still legal in parts of the United States. He was largely unable to find acting work in the U.S., with the notable exception of his work with the New York-based African Theatre Company, the first African American theatre company.  He found widespread popularity in Europe. In Europe, could play roles unavailable to him in the United States due to his race and  was the first Black person to play Othello in London. He used his platform to speak against slavery.

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