MONIFF's VODOO MACBETH to Screen at New Park Theatre

The Monadnock 9th Annual Film Festival will present a new film about the staging of the first all-Black production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. The critically acclaimed film drama, Voodoo Macbeth, will screen at The Park Theatre in Jaffrey, NH as part of the MONIFF festival on Friday, October 22 at 7 pm.

1936 Harlem is a neighborhood battered by economic strife and hardship. With FDR's New Deal providing funding for the Federal Theatre Project's Negro Unit, director Rose McClendon convinces co-director John Houseman to help her bring Shakespeare's "Macbeth" to the Harlem community at the Lafayette Theater - with an all-Black cast.

They choose for their groundbreaking production a gifted but untested 20-year-old director by the name of Orson Welles, whose reimagined Haitian vision for the Scottish play is as daring and fresh as the cast and crew themselves.

Based on actual events surrounding the Negro Theatre Unit's revolutionary 1936 production of "Macbeth," this is the story of a group of Committed Artists who set out to create what is now considered a landmark event in African-American theatrical history.

Voodoo Macbeth will be shown in the 333-seat Eppes Auditorium within The Park Theatre. The event will include a panel discussion following the screening. The evening will also include pre and post-screening hors d'oeuvres provided by Sunflowers Café and wines sponsored by Chuck Saunders & Casey Leach. Off The Cuff, a semi-acoustic instrumental and vocal group, will provide music.

"Nothing compares to the big screen, and this will be MONIFF's first time back in the theater since the pandemic began. We couldn't imagine a better partner than The Park Theatre to bring back the magic to festival-goers," said Deirdre Fitzgerald, MONIFF's Board Chair and Festival Programmer.

"We are proud to have MONIFF present this important new motion picture at The Park Theatre during its 9th festival. The film reveals a remarkable historical event for theatre and specifically Black theatre in America," said Steve Jackson, CEO and Managing Director of The Park Theatre.

Tickets are $15. Please note that masks are mandatory at all screenings regardless of vaccination status. Tickets can be booked online at moniff.org or theparktheatre.org. The theatre is located at 19 Main Street in downtown Jaffrey. Masks are mandatory at the theatre regardless of vaccination status.

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