Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater & Music Theater
Macbeth in Stride
A musical by Whitney White
Run Time
Approximately 85 minutes, with no intermission.
Content Advisory
This production uses haze and flashing lights.
Setting
Time: Now, and always.
Place: The theatre, space, or concert venue that you, the audience and performers are inhabiting right now. At other times Shakespeare’s world. And still other spaces of conjuring.
Program Note
The world premiere produced by American Repertory Theater Diane Paulus, Artistic Director Diane Borger, Executive Producer.
Special Notes
No flash photography or audio/video recording permitted. Please silence all electronic devices including cellular phones and watches, and refrain from text messaging for the duration of the performance.
Accessibility
The Berlind Theatre is an accessible venue with wheelchair and companion seating available. An assistive listening system is available and headphones can be requested from ushers. The April 11 performance will include open/live captioning (CART). Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information about our various locations.
Cast
Woman: Alex Conboy ’25
Man: Rowan Johnson ’27*
Witch 1: Sasha Villefranche ’26
Witch 2: Kareish Thony ’27
Witch 3: Amira Adarkwah ’26*
Musicians
Keyboard: Solon Snider-Sway
Drums: Hal Olson GS
Guitar: Jacob Emerson ’28
Bass: Kai Gibson
Production Team
Director: Layla Williams ’25*
Music Director: Solon Snider-Sway
Set Designer: Sahaf Chowdhury ’25*
Costume Design: Miriam Patterson
Lighting Designer: Alex Slisher ’25*
Sound Designer: Nathan Leigh
Stage Manager: Jeanna Raphael ’26*
Sound Engineer: Ryan Gonzales ’26
Assistant Stage Manager: Precious Opaola ’28*; rehearsals only: Amira Adarkwah ’26*, Myrah Charles ’26*
Stage Management Mentor: Vera Fei ’25*
Scenic Artists: Carlyn Perlow and Sidney Martin
Berlind Electrician: Michelle Pouaille
Berlind Run Crew: Ben Malone
Follow spot operators: Moses Yang ’26*, Camila Villavizar Gomez ’28
A2: AJ Abdallah
Special consultant in choreography: Raja Feather Kelly
Special consultant for music rehearsal: Vince di Mura
Special consultant / rehearsal accompanist: Marvel Roth ’28
*denotes a student minoring in the Program in Theater & Music Theater
Faculty Advisors
Aaron Landsman, Co-Producer
Shariffa Ali, Faculty Project Mentor
Tess James, Lighting Advisor
Elena Araoz, Directing Advisor
Yoshi Tanokura, Scenic Advisor
Itohan Edoloyi, Guest Lighting Advisor (tech only)
Note from the Project Proposer
“Why do they imagine us this way?” We see tropes reproduced again and again, especially when it comes to people of color and Black women in musical theater. She’s an object of desire, a best friend, an unstoppable pillar of performance, or, in the words of Masi Asare, “stage parsley.” Whitney White’s piece intervenes in this overproduced narrative. Macbeth in Stride centers Black women’s experiences and interrupts this cycle of relegating Woman’s story to the periphery.
Going into my senior year, I wanted to work on something that piqued my interests as a scholar, excited me as a director, offered unique design opportunities, created an exchange of ideas in the rehearsal room, and connected with the audience in a direct manner. As an avid musical theater lover, I kept facing the trope of the narrating Chorus (usually a trio) of Black women. Usually, these characters are isolated to storytellers, and as an audience, we don’t get to learn much about them as individuals. Putting these goals and queries into conversation pointed me to Macbeth in Stride.
When beginning this project (paired with my research in African American Studies), I anticipated this trio as being powerless. Working on this story for almost a year has flipped my perspective. I instead focus on the community the Witches offer to the Woman, the grounding reality they inform her of, and their distinct perspectives on the story as it plays out. I’m reminded of the powerful trios, Girl Groups, and performers that inspired this trope of the Chorus: the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Tina Turner and the Ikettes, TLC, En Vogue, Destiny’s Child, and so many more. Echoes of them exist within our world of Macbeth in Stride.
I want to thank all the members of the cast, crew, production team, advising team, and the staff at the LCA and the McCarter for your work on this show. Alex, Rowan, Sasha, Kareish, and Amira, I am forever grateful for your patience for all of my incredibly niche visual references and your creative spirits; Jeanna, Precious, and Amira, thank you for your energy in every rehearsal; Sahaf, Alex, and Nathan, thank you for offering your brilliance and creativity to bring this world to life; Shariffa, thank you for your advice to and support of me, both as an artist and a young person finding her way; Aaron, thank you for your time and communication to keep us on track; Solon, thank you for your musical prowess and dedication to diving in with us; Elena, thank you for your belief in me as a director; and Jane, thank you for suggesting this show almost a year ago, without you, we may not have gotten the opportunity to work on it and share it with the Princeton community. To my close friends, thank you for the joy, support, and life you bring. And to my family, thank you for your unconditional belief in me. This would not have been possible without any of you.
This piece lives in the same time and space as you and I, and it is reshaped with each iteration of the performance. So, when you’re called to react, respond, sing out, snap, “ooh”, gasp, clap, or any other way that you’re moved to engage with the piece, allow yourself to. And enjoy.
All my best,
Layla J. Williams ’25
About the Playwright: Whitney White
Whitney White is an Obie and Lilly Award-winning director, actor, and musician based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a Tony Award nominee, a recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing award, an Artistic Associate at the Roundabout and part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Her original musical Definition was part of the 2019 Sundance Theatre Lab, and her four-part musical exploration of Shakespeare’s Women and ambition is currently under commission with the Royal Shakespeare Company (UK).
She has developed work with: Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theatre, Ars Nova, The Drama League, Roundabout, New York Theatre Workshop, The Lark, The Movement, Jack, Bard College, NYU Tisch, Juilliard, Princeton, SUNY Purchase, South Oxford, Luna Stage and more.
Whitney was a staff writer on Boots Riley’s I’M A VIRGO (Amazon, Media Res).
Whitney is a believer in collaborative processes and new forms. Her musical discipline is rooted in indie-soul, and rock. She is passionate about black stories, reconstructing classics, stories for and about women, genre-defying multimedia work and film. Past fellowships include: New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship, Ars Nova’s Makers Lab, Colt Coeur and the Drama League. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA Political Science, Certificate in Musical Theater: Northwestern University.
Land Acknowledgement
An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Many thousands lived in Lenapehoking, the vast homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of what is now called eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Princeton stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. In 1756, the College of New Jersey erected Nassau Hall with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples.
Treaties and forced relocation dispersed Lenape-Delaware to Ohio, Kansas, and Oklahoma. We acknowledge the violence of settler colonialism and pay respect to Lenape peoples past, present, and future and their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Lenape diaspora.
For more information about ways you can engage with and support the Indigenous community on campus please visit the website of Native American and Indigenous studies (NAI), Natives at Princeton and Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Chair: Judith Hamera
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Program in Theater and Music Theater: Jane Cox
View a list of Program in Theater & Music Theater faculty & guest artists
For a look at all the people working behind the scenes to bring you this event, view a list of LCA staff members.
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a list of LCA Supporters
