Voodoo MacBeth

Harlem's Lafayette Theatre was one of 16 "Negro Units" that was established by the Federal Theatre Project. John Houseman co-directed the unit with the prominent black actress Rose McClendon.

Actors Jack Carter and Edna Thomas appear in this Scene of Voodoo MacBeth

Numerous plays were performed by the unit. Perhaps the most famous, memorable and controversial of these was Voodoo Macbeth. A readaption of the Shakespeare classic set in Haiti.

Welles was a very young director who worked with a cast that was ninety-five percent amateur, and who worked with a scenery and costume budget of $2,000. For ten straight weeks at the Lafayette, and then ten more weeks in Harlem at the Adelphi Theater, all different kinds of people packed the two theaters to watch this masterpiece, which was set in nineteenth century Haiti. The audiences enjoyed the play so much that they applauded for fifteen minutes after the performances regularly. Blacks looked at this as a step towards breaking the color line due to the fact that many theaters were segregated. Other Negro Units, as they were called, were inspired to perform classics like Macbeth. It went on tour, and played for sold out crowds, but it was not welcome at every city, like Cincinnati, who did not allow blacks and whites to sit together, which was against the FTP policy. All though it did get much publicity and media coverage, Macbeth did not make money. The estimated production cost for a week was $3,400, but, at the Lafayette for example, only $1,935 was made. After the tour was over, Macbeth took in $14,000, and spent an astonishing $97,000.

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Copyrighted 2001, United States of America
Anita Gonzalez & Ian Granick