Directed by Michael Menendian

In 1833, there was an unwritten rule against black actors performing on London’s stages, but when Edmund Kean collapsed on the stage of the Theatre Royal while playing Othello, a young African-American actor was called in to take over the role to the shock of audiences and critics. Outside the theatre, the public was rioting in the streets over the abolition of slavery. Inside, another revolution was about to begin.

Red Velvet – a drama of backstage intrigues and social change - was a huge hit in London and in New York, where The New York Times’s Ben Brantley said of it, “you can experience firsthand what it must have felt like to be part of one seriously rattled London theater audience in 1833.” Raven is pleased to be the first bring this entertaining and moving drama to Chicago.