Full Cast Set for Lolita Chakrabarti’s Red Velvet, Starring Adrian Lester, in London's West End

This show looks way better than cake. Full casting has been announced for the Lolita Chakrabarti’s Red Velvet, headlined by stage and screen star Adrian Lester. Directed by Indhu Rubasingham, the third production in the inaugural "Plays at the Garrick" season from the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, will begin previews on January 23, 2016 and officially open on February 1. The limited engagement is scheduled to play through February 27.

Along with Lester (Primary Colors, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) as Ira Aldridge, the cast will include Ayesha Antoine (Doctor Who) as Connie, Simon Chandler (The Iron Lady) as Bernard Warde/Terence, Alexander Cobb (Parade’s End) as Henry Forrester/Casimir, Mark Edel-Hunt (Chariots of Fire) as Charles Kean, Emun Elliott (A View From the Bridge) as Pierre Laporte, Charlotte Lucas (Posh) as Ellen Tree, Caroline Martin (A Doll’s House) as Halina Wozniak/Margaret Aldridge and Amy Morgan (The Beaux Stratagem) as Betty Lovell.

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage whilst playing Othello. A young black American actor has been asked to take over the role. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theater?

The production, which originally premiered at the Tricycle Theatre in 2012, later transferred to New York’s St Ann’s Warehouse in 2014.