Episode details

World Service,17 Mar 1981,28 mins
Black Star – Another British curtain call for Ira Aldridge
MeridianAvailable for over a year
David Pownall on his latest play, Black Star, just opened in Bolton, UK. He wrote it for actor Joseph Marcell, who introduced him to its real-life central character, the 19th-century African American actor Ira Aldridge. The son of a slave, Aldridge was acclaimed for his great Shakespearean roles in Britain and Europe. Reviews of the films The Killing Floor, about race and labour relations in 1919 Chicago, and Stand by Me, based on a novella by Stephen King. Russia's most popular artist, Ilya Glazunov, attracts millions to his exhibitions of paintings depicting a mythical, mystical past. Presenter: Mark Steyn.
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