Mercer Street. Notable figures The company, established in the 1820s by William Henry Brown, was created in response to the demand for entertainment centers open to Black communities. Brown was a businessman looking for ways to generate profit, but he also aimed to create a community in the arts for Black people to socialize, perform, and foster self-determination. The Theater's leading actor, James Hewlett, is also the co-founder of the troupe who advocated for the hiring of more black actors. Prior to working full-time as a performer, Hewlett worked as a steward. Hewlett is the first African-American Shakespearean actor. Before co-founding, he was known to be a regular visitor and entertainer at Brown's backyard poetry functions, which are the known origins of The African Theater. Since Brown could not pay Hewlett a full salary, Hewlett continued working as a steward while performing. His last performance at the African Theater took place in 1824 prior to its close before being sold. The play was a solo, performed as a benefit in support of Greece during their war of independence from Turkey. The first performance of Richard III starred Charles Taft in the lead role because Hewlett was working on a ship and did not return until the second performance. Taft, fired from his job as a servant, became infatuated with theatre and was destroyed emotionally, in shambles, when Hewlett returned. During his work on the ship, Hewlett created a fancy costume for his performance. Taft, on the other hand, wore a robe made of a curtain. Hewlett had no competition, and was quickly welcomed back into the role. The company is also known for the introduction of Ira Aldridge, considered to be one of the first impactful Black American Shakespearean actors, who was born in 1807 in New York City. His theatrical career was notably interesting and extremely prominent, but prior to taking a larger stage, he worked as a costume carrier for British actors and performed in smaller drama productions of ragtag companies. Aldridge worked as an actor in the British Isles beforehand, knowing that there was not yet opportunity for him to pursue acting in The United States. The actor garnered recognition with the role of Othello in Shakespeare's play of the same name. This proved a struggle to Aldridge both as a performer and financially, as there were few roles that African Americans would be given the allowance