Orson Welles, Macbeth, and Africa: Collective Genius and the Diaspora

FAIN: FT-265463-19

Marguerite Hailey Rippy
Marymount University (Arlington, VA 22207-4299)

Research leading to publication of a book about the contributions made by African and African American artists to Orson Welles’ 1936 Federal Theater Project production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

This project seeks to produce a book-length monograph that would reposition scholarly and general understanding of the production that came to be known as the 1936 “Voodoo” Macbeth. Directed by a youthful Orson Welles, the 1936 "Macbeth" has been widely recounted in theater history as a work of Welles’ budding genius, a product of his collaboration with producer John Houseman and Federal Theatre director Hallie Flanagan. Many of the materials regarding the contributions of the over 100 African and African American participants, however, have yet to be studied alongside the conventional history of this production. This project brings together archival materials from multiple collections to illuminate the contributions of African and African American actors, artists and musicians in the 1936 Federal Theatre Project production of "Macbeth."

Associated Products

"Erased from History: Orson Welles, Jesse O. Thomas, and the 1936 Black Cast Macbeth at the Texas Centennial” (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: "Erased from History: Orson Welles, Jesse O. Thomas, and the 1936 Black Cast Macbeth at the Texas Centennial”
Author: Marguerite Rippy
Abstract: In 1936, Orson Welles’ Federal Theater Production of Macbeth went on national tour with an integrated cast and crew of 100 African and African American dancers, actors, and musicians. The first stop was at the Texas Centennial Celebration, which commemorated Texan independence from Mexico. The production was documented by Exhibition General Manager and National Urban League officer Jesse O. Thomas, who framed the Centennial and its Hall of Negro Life as an important moment in black history. The 1936 Texas Centennial Macbeth is rarely referenced in either the context of Welles’ career or as a major moment in African American theater. This presentation seeks to rectify an important omission from African American performance history by studying the unique performance context of the Centennial for the 1936 Macbeth, directed by Orson Welles.
Date: 04/16/20
Conference Name: Popular Culture / American Culture Association National Conference

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