Voodoo Macbeth at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem in 1936.
“Voodoo” Macbeth – the Federal Theatre Project’s historic production of the Shakespearean classic – debuted at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem 80 years ago.
Orson Welles, then just 20 years old, adapted and directed the production. He moved the play’s setting from Scotland to a fictional Caribbean island and employed an entirely African-American cast of actors. Welles also hired a team of African drummers, some familiar with voodoo rituals, to accompany the witch’s speeches.
The Lafayette Theatre was picketed throughout rehearsals by those who mistakenly believed the Works Progress Administration-backed play was a going to be a farce made at the expense of the black cast members.
The production was an overwhelming success, winning rave reviews from both the New York Times and New York Daily News when it opened on April 14, 1936. Macbeth played for 10 sold-out weeks at the Lafayette Theatre before moving to the Adelphi Theatre and then embarking on a national tour.
It established Welles as a theatrical force.
“By all odds my great success in my life was that play,” Welles told the BBC’s Leslie Megahey in a 1982 interview. “Because the opening night there were five blocks in which all traffic was stopped. You couldn’t get near the theater in Harlem. Everybody who was anybody in the black or white world was there. And when the play ended there were so many curtain calls that finally they left the curtain open, and the audience came up on the stage to congratulate the actors. And that was, that was magical.”
The cast of 150 featured Jack Carter (Macbeth), Edna Thomas (Lady Macbeth), Maurice Ellis (Macduff), Canada Lee (Banquo) and Eric Burrough (Hecate).
A graphic novel recalling the production was penned last year by writer-artist Norris Burroughs, son of the late Eric Burroughs.
“I think that the production was one of the most significant in the history of theater. I would compare it to Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey’s breaking the color line in baseball,” Norris Burroughs told Wellesnet. “I’m very surprised and disappointed that history has not taken greater note of this moment in theatrical history.”
Footage of the final four minutes of the play were preserved in the 1937 film, We Work Again. (Maurice Ellis and Charles Collins appear as Macbeth and Macduff, respectively, in the brief footage.)
A selection of materials from the play are available online from the Library of Congress’ Federal Theater Project site, including the script, designs, photographs, and more. A sampling appears below:
Jack Carter and Edna Thomas as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth at the Lafayette Theatre, Harlem
Jack Carter and Edna Thomas as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth at the Lafayette Theatre, Harlem
Macbeth in the jungle with the Three Witches and the voodoo men and women in Act II, Scene 2 of the Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth at the Lafayette Theatre, Harlem
Lady Macbeth calming the guests at Macbeth’s palace in Act II, Scene 1, of the Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth at the Lafayette Theatre
Charles Collins (Macduff) and Maurice Ellis (Macbeth) in Act III, Scene 4, of the Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth at the Lafayette Theatre
Macduff hailing victory over Macbeth in Act III, Scene 4, of the Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth at the Lafayette Theatre, Harlem
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