Orson Welles's "Voodoo" Macbeth

Nat Karson (1908-1954)
Costumes design for Macbeth
1938
Watercolor with fabric attachments
Music Division (18, 18.1)

In 1936, Orson Welles (1915-1985) directed a New York City production of Macbeth set in nineteenth-century Haiti and portraying the witches as voodoo priestesses. The all-black cast were part of the Negro Theatre Unit of the Federal Theatre Project. The colorful costumes and jungle sets were designed by Nat Karson, later art director and set designer at the Radio City Music Hall and a producer for Broadway shows and television. Welles's highly successful production became famous for its dazzlingly original use of lighting and sound, particularly authentic voodoo drumming and chants. Macbeth launched the meteoric directing career of Welles, who was not yet twenty-one when it opened.

Performance photograph of Macbeth,1938
Federal Theatre Project Collection
Music Division (19)