
To let Lolita Chakrabarti’s text speak for itself, “we know what we like and like what we know.” Red Velvet is a play that is both resonant and relevant in its telling of Ira Aldridge, the first African-American actor to portray Othello on the London stage, and how humanity can be such sticklers for simply sticking to what they know. The themes of tolerance, or lack thereof, art pushing and reacting to the ever-changing times, or lack thereof, and challenging how far can one commit to their role--whether a character on stage or the role they play in their community--are all brilliantly dramatized in Chakrabarti’s Red Velvet, which is brought to illuminating life by director Brad Myers at Fresno State University theater.

(German Gutierrez, Jr. (Pierre) and Jimmy Haynie (Ira); Photo source: University Theatre/Miguel Gastelum)
Led by by a phenomenal Jimmy Haynie, Red Velvet takes the drama of Ira’s journey post and leading up to his opening night as the titular role in one of Shakespeare’s most lauded tragedies. Haynie’s calibration of older Ira in the play's scenes juxtaposes finely with his younger, passionate, earnest Ira in the bulk of the play. Haynie delivers his monologues and scene work with an attention to being intentional, to playing the pace and manipulating the text's (both Chakrabarti and Shakespeare's) rhythms of the quieter moments and reactions, all which make his performance a stalwart journey from beginning to end. Playing opposite Haynie is Caroline Herling as Ellen Tree, the actress playing Desdemona opposite Ira’s Othello. Herling gives as much as she gets, playing a delightfully comedic scene in her opening rehearsal opposite the newly-cast Ira, where both she and Ira give each other delivery notes. Herling delivers a beautifully paced and engaging arc as the ingenue with a backbone and voice, balancing her contempt towards being coddled with the expectation of a hard-working, committed leading lady.

(L to R, Upstage-German Gutierrez, Jr. (Pierre), Ananda Desirea (Connie), Beyonce Rodriguez-Fabela (Betty), Diego J. Sosa (Henry), Brandon Weis (Bernard), Sitting-Nico J. Diviccaro (Charles), Downstage-Caroline Herling (Ellen), Jimmy Haynie (Ira) ; Photo source: University Theatre/Miguel Gastelum)
Supporting standouts come from a hilarious, tirade-driven Nico J. Diviccaro as Charles Kean, adversary towards Ira and romantic partner to Ellen; Brandon Weis as the eager, old guard-stubborn brute Bernard Warde; and German Gutierrez, Jr. as the encouraging-yet-steadfast director, Pierre. Both Gutierrez, Jr. and Haynie share an expertly paced and intense scene towards the play's end when Ira's fate is sealed and the two truly let the other have it. Kelly Pantzlaff Curry’s costume design is gorgeous in its setting of the 1830’s and 1860’s period, with specific attention to Ira and Ellen’s Othello costumes serving as highlights. Dominick Callahan’s expansive and simply dressed set allows for the action to hold its intimacy while maintaining a grand feeling when called for. Liz Crifasi’s lighting design is palette-perfect, moody in the best of ways, and makes use of the Red in the play’s title in an effective manner.

(German Gutierrez, Jr. (Pierre), Nico J. Diviccaro (Charles), Jimmy Haynie (Ira); Photo source: University Theatre/Miguel Gastelum)
By play's end, it can't go unnoticed that all the effective performances and attention to the smaller moments and larger scenes from the acting company are supported and finessed by incredibly strong direction by Myers. This play is a careful script in that it must balance the drama of the history with the grounded delivery of a Shakespearean drama. Myers’s macro-vision gets the audience into the play immediately, and the execution by the acting and technical teams is on point. Similarly, it's the attention to the micro details that makes Myers’s pacing and tender moments shine as brightly as any epic Shakespearean soliloquy ought to. You have until December 14th to catch this stellar production of a vitally important and artistically fulfilling play, so don't miss it.
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