Whitney White, Charlie Thurston, Phoenix Best and More to Star in MACBETH IN STRIDE World Premiere at A.R.T.

American Repertory Theater at Harvard University announced today the creative team and cast for Macbeth In Stride. Created by Obie Award winner Whitney White and directed by Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar, Macbeth In Stride begins performances at the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square on Saturday, October 23 and officially opens on Thursday, October 29, 2021.

Tickets from $25 to the 90-minute Macbeth In Stride are currently on sale at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/MacbethInStride. See below for a full performance schedule and additional ticketing information.

A dazzling theatrical event created and performed by Obie Award-winning artist Whitney White with a live band, Macbeth In Stride examines what it means to be an ambitious Black woman through the lens of one of Shakespeare's most iconic characters. The first of White's five-part series commissioned by A.R.T. excavating the women from Shakespeare's canon, the production uses pop, rock, gospel, and R&B to trace the fatalistic arc of Lady Macbeth while lifting up contemporary Black female power, femininity, and desire. Directors Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar co-stage this groundbreaking world premiere.

"Live music has always felt liberating to me," says White, "and I am in love with the words of Shakespeare. I am a Black woman from Chicago, and I always saw my experience reflected in Shakespeare's world. When I read Shakespeare, I totally hear my world. I hear my friends and family, and I see the world that I live in. However, often live productions wouldn't represent my experience or even a world I recognized. So I wondered how I could unite all these worlds that I love to make a production that any person could hear and understand. I'm working to construct the show so that every person in the audience can understand it and feel a part of it."

Whitney White performs as Woman with a cast that includes:

• Charlie Thurston as Man (The Prince of Providence at Trinity Rep; productions at Goodspeed Musicals, The Williams Project, and others)
• Phoenix Best as Witch (Dear Evan Hansen and The Color Purple on Broadway)
• Kira Helper as Witch (#MATTER at Barrington Stage Company; The Elm Tree with Alight Theater Guild, Inc.)
• Reggie D. White as Witch (The Inheritance on Broadway; Lessons in Survival at Vineyard Theater)

Members of the live band will be announced at a later date.

The Macbeth In Stride creative team includes:

• Taibi Magar, Director (We Live in Cairo at A.R.T.; Capsule by Whitney White and Peter Mark Kendall at Under the Radar Festival/The Public Theater with Dobrowsky; Help by Claudia Rankine at The Shed)
• Tyler Dobrowsky, Director (Capsule by Whitney White and Peter Mark Kendall at Under the Radar Festival/The Public Theater with Magar; productions at Trinity Repertory Theater, Asolo Rep, the Gamm Theatre)
• Steven Cuevas, Music Director and Co-Orchestrator (Once on this Island, Anastasia, and Kinky Boots on Broadway)
• Raja Feather Kelly, Choreographer (We're Gonna Die at Second Stage Theater; productions at Signature Theatre, Soho Rep, NYTW, and Playwrights Horizons)
• Dan Soule, Scenic Design (Drunk Shakespeare Off-Broadway; Othello at Trinity Rep)
• Qween Jean, Costume Design (What to Send Up When It Goes Down at A.R.T.; one in two at New Group; Our Dear Dead Drug Lord at WP Theater)
• Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, Lighting Design (Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic and ExtraOrdinary at A.R.T.; Gloria: A Life Off-Broadway)
• Alex Giorgetti, Sound Design (Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic, Sound Supervisor and Recording, Mixing, Mastering Engineer for Jack and the Beanstalk at A.R.T.)
• Rachel Padula-Shufelt (Wig Design) (Moby-Dick and The Black Clown at A.R.T.; Waitress and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at A.R.T. and on Broadway)

Whitney White is an Obie and Lilly Award-winning director, actor, and musician. She previously directed What to Send Up When It Goes Down at A.R.T., as well as recent productions at Playwrights Horizons, BAM, and The Movement (New York Times Critic's Pick). Other recent credits include The Amen Corner at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Capsule at Under the Radar Festival/The Public Theater, Our Dear Dead Drug Lord by Alexis Scheer, WP Theater/Second Stage; for all the women who thought they were Mad by Zawe Ashton, Soho Rep; A Human Being, of a Sort by Jonathan Payne (starring Andre Braugher and Frank Wood), Williamstown Theatre Festival; Jump, PlayMakers Rep, NNPN Rolling World Premiere; Canyon (LA Times Critics' Choice), IAMA; An Iliad, Long Wharf; Rita También Rita, Juilliard; Othello, Trinity Rep; Br'er Cotton, Endstation. Her original musical Definition was part of the 2019 Sundance Theatre Lab, and her musical look at Macbeth, Macbeth In Stride was part of the 2019 Under the Radar Festival (The Public Theater). Associate Directing: Marvin's Room, Broadway; If I Forget, Roundabout; The Secret Life of Bees, Atlantic Theater. Whitney is an Associate Artist at Roundabout, and current recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing Award. Past fellowships: 2050 NYTW Fellow, Ars Nova, Drama League, the Inaugural Roundabout Directing Fellowship, and Colt Coeur. Education/Training: BA, Northwestern; MFA, Brown University/Trinity Rep.

TICKETING INFORMATION:

Tickets from $25 are available at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/MacbethInStride. Discounts are available to students and ticket-buyers under age 25, Blue Star families, EBT card holders, seniors, Harvard faculty and staff, and others. More information at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/PlanYourVisit.

Audience, artist, and staff safety is A.R.T.'s top priority. The theater is taking many steps to protect against COVID-19. Enhanced ventilation, universal masking, vaccination, and testing are critical cornerstones of their multi-layered mitigation efforts that prioritize the safety of their community. Visit A.R.T.'s website for a full list of current ticketing and attendance protocols and procedures: AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/Covid19Protocols.

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