A visionary production, “Macbeth In Stride,” recently played at the Harvey Theater at BAM Strong in Brooklyn. This musical was the genius brainchild of Whitney White, a lady we know as a Broadway director, who is also a writer, actress, and powerful singer. White boldly decided to look at the women in Shakespeare’s tragedies, and particularly at Lady MacBeth, as she wrote and performed the original musical “Macbeth In Stride,” where she, as a Black woman, takes on the role of Lady MacBeth, and poses questions to the audience asking why Lady MacBeth’s story went the way it did.
White started the show off identifying with the fact that women, especially Black women, struggle to be seen and appreciated. Playing Lady MacBeth, referred to as Woman; having the three witches, played by Black actresses — Phoenix Best, Holli’ Conway, Ciara Alyse Harris; and with MacBeth, referred to as Man, played by white actor Charlie Thurston, she imagined a story with a lot of questions and a lot of moments for her to share her opinion: that Shakespeare often delivered unfair treatment and disregard to his female characters.
With everything that Lady Macbeth did to get MacBeth to kill King Duncan so that he could be King and she could be Queen, White wonders why Lady MacBeth had to go mad and then not be seen again, with her death only reported later on in the play. White made some very interesting, vivid, and valid arguments that demonstrated that Shakespeare was completely pro-male, no matter how intelligent and ambitious the women characters in his plays might be. White breaks down the story in a way that causes you to ponder and agree that Shakespeare had absolutely no regard for the incredible abilities and attributes of his female characters.
The live band was outstanding and the vocal gift that White possesses took me by surprise and blew me away. She told the story through songs that mixed genres from hip-hop and soul to gospel. White truly delved deep into one of Shakespeare’s most appreciated dramas and showed us the flaws, the pro-male placing, and made us want things to be different for Lady MacBeth. Throughout the musical she speaks up for Black women and queer folks. This production that was a breath of fresh air in so many ways. Kudos to White!
This production was presented by BAM in association with Philadelphia Theatre Company, Shakespeare Theatre Company and Yale Repertory Theatre. It has superb direction by Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar and sensational choreography by Raja Feather Kelly. The live band consisted of Nygel D. Robinson, music director, conductor, piano; Kenny Rosario-Pugh, guitar; Barbara “Muzikaldunk” Duncan, drums; and Bobby Etienne, bass. Scenic design was by Dan Soule, costume design by Qween Jean, lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, sound design by Nick Kourtides, and hair and wig design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt. For information on upcoming BAM productions visit ww.BAM.org.