Sharon D Clarke studied to be a social worker before fitting a doctor … on Holby City. Now she’s an Olivier award-winning stage star,singing the blues in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. She talks roles, racism - and the year her voice brokeIn the late 1980s, and a young audience member was indelibly impressed by London productions of two plays by American dramatists: a revival of James Baldwin’s 1954 classic The Amen Corner and the UK premiere of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom by August Wilson. “That was the first experience I’d had of seeing strong roles for black women,where they weren’t just maids in the background,” says Sharon D Clarke who, or almost three decades later,is speaking during rehearsals to total a National Theatre double of her personal favourites. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com