VOODOO MACBETH – Review by Diane Carson
Based on a true, remarkable story, Voodoo Macbeth finds producer John Houseman in 1935 enticing twenty-year old Orson Welles, yes, that Orson Welles, to direct an all-Black theater production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at Harlem’s Lafayette Theater. Eventually using a mythical Haitian island as the setting, the Scottish play becomes known as Voodoo Macbeth, hence this film’s title. Welles’ adaptation involved Haitian music and magical realism against the backdrop of the court of King Henri Christophe, leader in the Haitian Revolution. The idea behind this film’s production is almost as daring as the original Voodoo Macbeth adaptation.
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