Macbeth in Stride, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Klein Theatre, Washington, DC

 

Chelsea Lee Williams, Stacey Sargeant, Ximone Rose, and Whitney White in Macbeth in Stride. Photo credit: Teresa Wood.

Macbeth in Stride, the current offering at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre, defies easy classification. Not exactly a play, not exactly a musical, it is a mix of numerous musical genres, part concert, part musing upon one of the most famous female characters in Shakespeare’s canon, part feminist screed, part reenactment of scenes from the play, it is a contemporary critique of sexual politics in general and sexual politics of the African American woman in specific. Those who experience it – and I use that word purposefully, because the audience members are not mere spectators – will find their attention rapt in its ideas and will challenge the more traditional interpretations of the character.

One woman is at the heart of it – the heart and soul (in every possible meaning of the word) is Whitney White. “Created and performed by Whitney White” is her official program credit, but she is also responsible (along with music director Steven Cuevas) for the orchestrations. As a cast member, White’s character is called simply listed as “Woman.” The other characters are “Man” and three “Witches” – because any incarnation of Macbeth is incomplete without the “weird sisters.”

Lady M spurs her husband into action, to the extent that we may wonder if she is, perhaps, more driven than he. Would he have had the ambition and the desire, and especially the will and strength, to kill Duncan and become the king if she were not there encouraging him? Of course, the sexual politics of Shakespeare’s time would never have allowed a woman agency to assume such power for herself. White suggests that the same continues to be true today. And, playwright White argues, it is even more true for women of color or queer women.

Charlie Thurston and Whitney White in Macbeth in Stride. Photo credit: Teresa Wood.

The program lists 13 musical numbers. Although there is no specific credit for composer and lyricist, I would assume that as “creator,” White is chiefly responsible. I had some difficulty understanding the lyrics in some of the early numbers, but by the fourth, “Reach for It,” I was on board. “Reach for It” might be the lesson of the evening: “it” is not coming to you unless you reach, which is tied with your search for knowledge, as expressed in “If Knowledge Is Power.” In fact, the two numbers are reprised together, meaningfully titled “If Knowledge Is Power/Reach for It.” Wise advice to anyone.

White commands the stage from the moment she enters. She most often comes across as a powerful rock singer with hints of Tina Turner and Diana Ross, but also demonstrates a sweet, lyrical soprano at times, as well as commanding the keyboard a couple of times. She is poignant in the recreated scenes from the play, especially memorable in her “Out, out, damned spot” moment, and sensual in her scenes with Man. White is so fully invested in the performance, it is difficult to imagine anyone else in the role.

Charlie Thurston as Man goes toe-to-toe with White, not only singing, but occasionally playing the accordion, as well as his talent as an interpreter of Shakespeare. That talent is beautifully evident in his “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” soliloquy, delivered just as he learns of Lady Macbeth’s death. (That death, of course, per Shakespeare, occurs off-stage, thus robbing anyone playing the Lady of what might have been an actor’s dream of a death scene. And White would have acted the hell out of it.)

The three witches, played by Stacey Sargeant, Ximone Rose, and Chelsea Lee Williams, are not as individualized as they could be, but the actresses are more than up to the task of providing commentary and questions, functioning as a kind of Greek chorus. Their movement (down to and including simultaneous movement of dreadlocks) shows the talented influence of choreographer Raja Feather Kelly, who also supplies White and the Witches with some smooth moves reminiscent of Tina Turner’s dancers.

Chelsea Lee Williams, Steven Cuevas, Stacey Sergeant, Ximone Rose, and Whitney White in Macbeth in Stride. Photo credit: Teresa Wood.

Musical director Steven Cuevas serves as the on-stage keyboardist/ conductor, aided by drummer Jordan Carter, guitarist DeAnté Haggerty, and bassist Reggie Payne. The band’s presence emphasizes the concert aspects of the event.

Co-directors Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar create powerful stage pictures and shape dynamic performances from their capable cast. Scenic designer Daniel Soule has created a setting that evokes a rock tour, with clever costumes designed by Qween Jean and versatile lighting designed by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew. Perhaps Nick Kourtides could modulate the volume level of his sound design a bit by toning down some numbers (this may have contributed to my difficulty understanding some of the early lyrics). Wig, hair, and makeup designer Rachel Padula-Shufelt deserves accolades as well.

This STC production, in association with the Philadelphia Theatre Company and Brooklyn Academy of Music, premiered at the American Repertory Theatre, demonstrating the strength and depth of regional theatre in this country. Bravo to all.

This theatrical event demonstrates once more that Shakespeare’s world and ours are still colliding and that creative theatre artists like Whitney White continue to find new resonances in his words and characters, relating them to their own identities and circumstances. 

Chelsea Lee Williams, Stacey Sargeant, Ximone Rose, Whitney White, and Charlie Thurson in Macbeth in Stride. Photo credit: Teresa Wood.