ira aldridge but let's think what it has taken to create this, three days, in teeming rain at times, over 20 feet tall. and it took over a000 litres of spray paint to make this happen. and the artist said it was a privilege and an honour to paint a pioneer and what a pioneer aldridge was. at 21 he was the first black person to manage a theatre in the whole of the uk, he was given the keys to coventry theatre in 1828. he is also thought to be one of the first black shakespearean actors playing leading roles in romeo and juliet, hamlet, and fellow and it was his inspiring work that led coventry to petition parliament for the abolition of slavery so incredibly influential. i'm delighted to say his legacy lives on with artistic director of this theatre and actor himself cory