Orson Welles - January 29, 1939
The Campbell Playhouse
photo by
Yesterday was the birthday of Orson Welles;
I missed posting this by a few hours yesterday; whatever! There are several Viewfinder links
with tons of information about him at the end of this article.
During the Great Depression, as a part of a New Deal federal stimulus package (sound familiar?), the federal government wrote a 20-year-old director a check to stage Macbeth to fight Jim Crow! It gets weirder. This young director set his version of the Shakespeare masterpiece in Haiti, and based it loosely on the life of a former slave-turned-revolutionary-turned-king named Henry Christophe, and cast only black performers. The year was 1936, the director was Orson Welles who two years later would frightened the nation with his radio dramatization of the War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (complete info, links below).
Voodoo Macbeth - program - 1936
The Voodoo Macbeth is a common nickname for the Federal Theatre Project's 1936 New York production of Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Welles adapted and directed the production, moved the play's setting from Scotland to a fictional Caribbean island, recruited an entirely Black cast, and earned the nickname for his production from the Haitian vodou that fulfilled the role of Scottish witchcraft. A box office sensation, the production is regarded as a landmark
theatrical event for several reasons: its innovative interpretation of
the play, its success in promoting African-American theatre, and its
role in securing the reputation of its 20-year-old director.
The production opened April 14, 1936, at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem. A free preview two days before drew 3,000 more people than could be seated.
Opening night at the Lafayette Theatre (April 14, 1936)
"By all odds my great success in my life was that play," Welles told BBC interviewer Leslie Megahey in 1982. "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."
Voodoo Macbeth - 1936
The Works Project Administration provided economic stimulus during the Great Depression, and under its aegis was Federal Project Number One, responsible for generating jobs in the arts for which the Federal Theater Project was created. The Negro Theatre Unit
was split into two halves, the "Contemporary Branch" to create theater
on contemporary black issues, and the "Classic Branch", to perform
classic drama.
The aim was to provide a point of entry into the theater workforce for
black writers, actors and stagehands, and to raise community pride by
performing classic plays without reference to the color of the actors.
I found no evidence to support it but it seems to me that the influence of the Harlem Renaissance (link below) of the previous decade was felt by the group.
I found no evidence to support it but it seems to me that the influence of the Harlem Renaissance (link below) of the previous decade was felt by the group.
Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth
Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth
Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth
with Wanda Macy and Bertram Holmes as
Macduff's daughter and son
Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth
Many of the notable artists of the time participated in the Federal Theatre Project, including Susan Glaspell
who served as Midwest bureau director. The legacy of the Federal
Theatre Project can also be found in beginning the careers of a new
generation of theater artists. Arthur Miller, Orson Welles, John Houseman, Martin Ritt, Elia Kazan, Joseph Losey, Burt Lancaster, Marc Blitzstein and Abe Feder
are among those who became established, in part, through their work in
the Federal Theatre. Blitzstein, Houseman, Welles and Feder
collaborated on the controversial production, The Cradle Will Rock.
Federal Theatre Circus (1935–38)
Viewfinder links:
Marc Blitzstein
Burt Lancaster
William Shakespeare
Carl Van Vechten & the Harlem Renaissance
Orson Welles
Net links:
Inverse ~ The Forgotten Story of Orson Welles' All-Black Macbeth Production
Internet Archive ~ The War of the Worlds
YouTube links:
Voodoo Macbeth
Voodoo MacBeth battle over Citizen Kane We Work Again ~ Voodoo Macbeth Footage
Orson Welles interview on Voodoo Macbeth (1936)
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