[1]: 86  A box office sensation, the production is regarded as a landmark theatrical event for several reasons: its innovative interpretation of the play, its success in promoting African-American theatre, and its role in securing the reputation of its 20-year-old director.

The central idea behind Welles's production was to perform the text straight, but to use costumes and sets that alluded to Haiti in the 19th century, specifically during the reign of the slave-turned-emperor Henri Christophe.

[2]: 222  Although the main reason for this choice was that it was an appropriate setting for an all-black cast, Welles felt that it also enhanced the play's realism: he thought the production's popularity was partly due to the fact that the idea of voodoo was more credible to a contemporary audience than was medieval witchcraft.

[6]: 59  She advised national director Hallie Flanagan that the project should begin under experienced direction and selected producer John Houseman as co-director of the unit.

[3]: 99  On the advice of composer Virgil Thomson, Houseman divided the unit into two sections between which the project members themselves could choose and could switch between from one production to another.

It would be fatal to undertake the risky and difficult business of producing Shakespeare in Harlem until I had found a director of whose creative imagination and power I was completely confident.

Welles declined at first, since the work would cut into his lucrative radio career and he feared being put back into insolvency, but his young wife Virginia persuaded him to take the job.

[9]: 82  Welles proposed staging an all-black production of Macbeth, transposed from Scotland to a mythical island setting inspired by 19th-century Haiti and the fantasy world of The Tempest.

The idea offered creative advantages in music, costumes and settings — and the ability to make the role of witchcraft credible to modern audiences by substituting Haitian voodooism.

[2]: 229 At Welles's request, Houseman stayed away from early rehearsals,[7]: 189  leaving him able to concentrate on the first two Negro Theatre Unit productions, both from the contemporary wing.

[7]: 186  The second was Rudolph Fisher's Conjur' Man Dies, a comedy-mystery starring Dooley Wilson (and directed by Joseph Losey) that was a smash hit.

[13] Feder had a difficult relationship with Welles, who he believed was too young and ignorant of the practicalities of theatre; he continued to hold this opinion when interviewed decades later.

[2]: 232 Welles also faced some difficulties in asserting authority with the black cast and crew but won them over with his energy and warmth,[2]: 224  and pleased everyone by cramming the rehearsal space with food and drink.

[22]: 96 Welles was sent to join the company during the play's run in Indianapolis (August 25–29), to soothe inter-company quarrels that threatened the production after racial tensions escalated during the segment of the tour through the segregated South.

[3]: 110 The closing four minutes of the production are preserved in a rare 1937 film, We Work Again, a WPA documentary that is in the public domain and can be viewed online.

After ten months as the project's director he assured Hallie Flanagan that the unit was viable and should be directed by a triumvirate[7]: 208–209  comprising West Indian intellectual Harry Edward,[28]: 98–99  Carlton Moss and Gus Smith.

[16]: 334 The cast of Macbeth numbered 150 people,[29][10] but only four were professional actors: Jack Carter, Edna Thomas, Canada Lee, and Eric Burroughs.

[12]: 66 [dubious – discuss]} Juano Hernandez was first cast as Macbeth, but he left the production after just three rehearsals to play the lead in an NBC radio series.

[31] The role of Hecate, which Welles changed from the witch queen of the original to that of a male Voodoo priest, was played by Eric Burroughs, trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

[34] Dafora and Assen's presentation of voodoo practices and musical accompaniment of the witches' speeches with drumbeats were popular with audiences, critics, and with Welles himself.

[3]: 108  The involvement of Assen, Dafora, and diasporic African musical and dance tradition added a powerful feeling of authenticity to the Haitian setting that became part of the folklore surrounding the production.

[12]: 181–182 Before the production opened, the Harlem Communists tried to agitate the community against the project, wrongly believing that Welles had cast black actors in order to create a comic or burlesque version of Shakespeare.

[3]: 109 Using the original 1936 promptbook, in 1977, the Henry Street Settlement's New Federal Theatre revived the production, starring Lex Monson and Esther Rolle.

Produced by the USC School of Cinematic Arts, it chronicles the creation of the original 1936 production, starring Inger Tudor as Rose McClendon and Jewell Wilson Bridges as Orson Welles.