Created by Whitney White, who is also a magnetic onstage presence, and directed by Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar, “Macbeth in Stride” often looks and sounds like a rock concert, with concert lighting bathing the onstage band. Appearing among the instruments in the show’s opening are ominous robed Witches (Stacey Sargeant, Ximone Rose, Chelsea Lee Williams), who will later transform into backup singers and a fun bantering chorus. With ritual gestures, they cue in the score, orchestrated by White and music director Steven Cuevas — catchy, moody music that ranges through R&B, gospel, pop and rock. (Raja Feather Kelly choreographs; Jeanette Yew is lighting designer; and Qween Jean, costume designer.)
When the Woman (White, in a sparkly body suit) appears, the Witches become her confidantes. Prodded by them to say what she wants as an ambitious Black woman, she confesses that she covets power with a “capital P.” Soon, she is stepping in and out of a version of “Macbeth” that centers Lady Macbeth — a character notorious for daring to hunger for more.
Passionate, self-possessed and self-aware, White’s Lady M is appealing in a way that bolsters the “I want” motif of “Macbeth in Stride.” In other productions, or when reading Shakespeare’s text, it’s easy to write off the Macbeths as greedy, unthinking opportunists. But when White’s Lady Macbeth speaks about “I dare not” waiting upon “I would,” she seems to capture what we all go through with our daily fears, hopes and frustrations.
Intensifying the focus on women’s experience, this version of the Scottish play sheds the original’s all-guy fights and confabs. (Sorry, Donalbain!) But Macbeth himself turns up: the Man (a spot-on Charlie Thurston) is a ditherer whose contrast with the glamorous go-getting Woman sharpens when he dorkily plays the accordion.
The Man’s squeezebox habit isn’t the show’s only jolt of delectable humor. There’s also coronation-spoofing confetti and drolly juxtaposed Shakespearean and modern speech. “I’ll take the red,” a wine-quaffing Witch says during a dinner party scene.
The comedy adds further accessibility to the play’s serious interrogation of prejudice, patriarchy, privilege and exclusionary artistic tradition. The Woman tells the Witches that she longs to be treated in a way that isn’t racist, sexist or condescending: “Don’t touch my hair/ Don’t talk when I’m talking/ Don’t say there’s too much on my plate.”
“Macbeth in Stride” sometimes poses its what-do-you-want question more bluntly than is optimal, and it skates over plot points (for example, Banquo’s ghost) in a way that might confuse audience whose “Macbeth” knowledge is rusty.
But the production is mostly further evidence of White’s breathtaking talent. An acclaimed director (including of Broadway’s current “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”), she shows herself here to be a terrific singer, as well as an actor and writer.
Mounted by STC in association with Philadelphia Theatre Company and Brooklyn Academy of Music, “Macbeth in Stride” is part of her five-part cycle deconstructing Shakespeare’s women and ambition. To judge by this show, the other parts also deserve to strut and fret their hour upon the stage.
Macbeth in Stride, created and performed by Whitney White. Directed by Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar; scenic design, Daniel Soule; sound, Nick Kourtides. About 90 minutes. Tickets: $35 and up. Through Oct. 29 at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre, 450 7th Street NW. 202-547-1122. shakespearetheatre.org.
