7 - The African Roscius on Tour

Summary

London had been a good place for Aldridge to launch his career on the British stage. The months he spent performing at the Royalty and Coburg theaters had provided him with valuable experience, a regular salary, and a small measure of fame. And because he was such an unusual phenomenon, he had been given top billing as a “Gentleman of Colour,” an “African Tragedian,” and exaggerated claims had been made about his previous acting experience in the United States. This kind of media puffery, combined with the notoriety of Charles Mathews's humorous parody of an incompetent black actor butchering Shakespeare at the African Theatre in New York City, had made Aldridge a star attraction at a young age. His repertoire of black roles was too small to permit him to work for a full year at any of the London theaters, but he had been able to sustain himself at the capital for more than six months. Never again would he remain in one spot for quite so long. He was destined to travel constantly, moving from place to place throughout the British Isles and later all over the Continent in search of engagements that usually would last no more than a week or two at best. He was perpetually on the road.

Fortunately, there were plenty of cities and towns in Britain that had regular or seasonal theatrical activity. Leman Thomas Rede's The Road to the Stage, published in 1827, lists fifty-one provincial theater managers in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales who controlled theaters in at least 184 communities. These managers paid their actors anywhere from one pound to seven pounds per week, but visiting stars often were paid more or were rewarded with a certain percentage of the amount the theater took in during their visits.

The first problem for a young actor was to find a way to approach these theater managers for employment. Rede mentions an agent in London who secured bookings for actors and actresses, but there is no evidence that Aldridge made use of his services. Instead, he apparently tried to arrange engagements on his own or to rely on letters of introduction from actors and managers who had seen him perform and could vouch for his abilities. He could also circulate copies of favorable reviews of his performances and seek interviews with theater managers nearby.