In 1833, the year slavery was abolished in the United Kingdom, a black actor took the role of William Shakespeare’s Othello. His name is Ira Aldridge.

Red Velvet, a production at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, follows the life of this trailblazing African-American actor. The play runs through January 21.

For a discussion on the play and Ira Aldridge, Worldview is joined by the playwright and award-winning actress Lolita Chakrabarti, and actor Dion Johnstone, who stars as Ira Aldridge. Global citizen, Nari Safavi, will also clue us into more global events to check out this weekend!