Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Readjusting to Britain
- 2 Crim. Con.
- 3 On the Road Again
- 4 Stockholm
- 5 The Second Continental Tour
- 6 Pest and Buda
- 7 A Short Break
- 8 The Third Continental Tour
- 9 Home Again
- 10 The Fourth Continental Tour
- 11 The Fifth Continental Tour
- 12 The Sixth Continental Tour
- 13 Taking a Break
- 14 The Seventh Continental Tour
- 15 Another Break
- 16 The Eighth Continental Tour
- 17 The Ninth Continental Tour
- 18 Final Acts
- 19 Postmortem
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Readjusting to Britain
- 2 Crim. Con.
- 3 On the Road Again
- 4 Stockholm
- 5 The Second Continental Tour
- 6 Pest and Buda
- 7 A Short Break
- 8 The Third Continental Tour
- 9 Home Again
- 10 The Fourth Continental Tour
- 11 The Fifth Continental Tour
- 12 The Sixth Continental Tour
- 13 Taking a Break
- 14 The Seventh Continental Tour
- 15 Another Break
- 16 The Eighth Continental Tour
- 17 The Ninth Continental Tour
- 18 Final Acts
- 19 Postmortem
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Aldridge had initially been invited to appear in Stockholm nearly three years earlier when he was touring the Continent. Newspapers in England had been following his travels with interest and curiosity, reporting on anything extraordinary that happened. On July 2, 1854, the Sunday Times told its readers:
“The African Roscius,” having made a most successful tour throughout Prussia, Bavaria, and Hungary, has recently appeared at some of the principal theatres in Switzerland, where he has been most favourably received. On the 24th of June he played at Soleure [Solothurn] in the presence of her Majesty the Queen of Sweden, who, at the conclusion of the performance, desired that Mr. Aldridge might be presented to her in the state box, when, after complimenting him upon his histrionic talent, she invited him to visit Stockholm during the ensuing season, assuring him of the protection and patronage of the court.
Aldridge may have been unable to accept this generous invitation at that time because he was too busy fulfilling back-to-back engagements at theaters in Germany, Prussia, Austria, and the Netherlands for the next nine months. On returning to London in the spring of 1855, he had rested for a few months and then had resumed performing at theaters throughout the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the Swedish royal family had not forgotten him. On March 3, 1857, the invitation to perform in Stockholm was offered again, this time through the office of Major Norman Pringle, the British consul there, who had received the following letter from Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius, the director of Stockholm's Royal Theatre:
The Royal Theatre at Stockholm gives ordinarily, by full houses a recett [box-office returns] of 1000 RB Swedish Banco.
The Expenses for every night are cirka [sic] 300 RB Bko.
The Direction offers to Mr Ira Aldridge 25L (resembling to nearly the half-part of the Netto-Recett, or 300 RB Swedish Bko) for every night he publicly appears on the Stage.
The number of representations cannot be limited forwards; but so many times as it will be worth the trouble.
Only one Character—Othello.
The time at the middle or between the middle and the end of the month Maji [May].
Answer is to be expected.—
Stockholm d. 3 Mars 1857.
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- Ira AldridgeThe Last Years, 1855-1867, pp. 47 - 66Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2015