James Hewlett as Richard III in a c. 1821 production

James Hewlett (fl. 1821 – 1849) was an African-American actor. He was principal actor in and co-creator of William Alexander Brown's African Grove Theatre in New York City.[1][2][3][4]

Life

Hewlett started performing as a vocalist and as an actor described as "Shakespeare's proud Representative" in the African Grove when it was just an exhibition held in Brown's tea garden.[5] Hewlett is best known for starring in African Grove's performance of Richard III.[6] After the closure of the theatre, he began to tour performing excerpts from plays; historian Shane White suggests that Hewlett may have been "the best-known black New Yorker" around 1831.[7] He also visited the United Kingdom and apparently performed in Liverpool, although documentary evidence of this is limited.[8] His career seems to have entered into a decline by and after 1834, when he was imprisoned for larceny. He is reported to have died around 1849.[8]

George Thompson, who has researched the history of the theatre, concluded that Hewlett was a tailor and may have been an emigrant from the West Indies.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Tue, 05.29.1821: The African Grove Theater begins | African American Registry". www.aaregistry.org. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  2. ^ Thompson, George (1998). A Documentary History of the African Theatre. Northwestern University Press. pp. 53–60. ISBN 978-0-8101-1461-6.
  3. ^ Kinshasa, Kwando Mbiassi (2006). African American Chronology: Chronologies of the American Mosaic. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-313-33797-0.
  4. ^ Smith, Jessie Carney; Lean'tin Bracks; Linda T. Wynn (June 1, 2015). The Complete Encyclopedia of African American History. Visible Ink Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-57859-583-9.
  5. ^ Dewberry, Jonathan (January 1, 1982). "The African Grove Theatre and Company". Black American Literature Forum. 16 (4): 128–131. doi:10.2307/2904218. JSTOR 2904218.
  6. ^ "Alexander Street Press Authorization". solomon.bld2.alexanderstreet.com. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  7. ^ Worrall, David (September 30, 2015). Harlequin Empire: Race, Ethnicity and the Drama of the Popular Enlightenment. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-317-31549-0.
  8. ^ a b Lindfors, Bernth (2011). Ira Aldridge. University of Rochester Press. pp. 47–55, 304. ISBN 978-1-58046-381-2.
  9. ^ George Thompson (1998). A Documentary History of the African Theatre. Northwestern University Press. pp. 3–12. ISBN 978-0-8101-1461-6.


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