White

by James Ijames

Directed by Ryan Hope Travis

March 29-April 14; Previews March 27-28

The plot of White is inspired by a true story. With a premise equal parts playful, prescient and preposterous, art imitates life (or is it the other way around?) in James Ijames’ comedy White. Gus is an artist. Vanessa is an actress. When a major museum seeks to showcase diverse voices in their next exhibition, Gus enlists Vanessa’s help to create an audacious new artistic persona to get him in the show. This contemporary Frankenstein story gleefully skewers the modern monstrosities of racism, misogyny and cultural appropriation, all the while subverting expectations, cracking wise, and opening eyes.

“If it’s not entertaining, why the hell are we doing it? Make’m laugh. Make’m cry. Make’m call their senator. But by any means necessary. Make’m do something. Can’t change anybody’s mind if they’re asleep.” – James Ijames

“Ijames has created a piece in which every expectation (internal and external) and stereotype gets turned inside out. Also, it’s hilarious, and not just in a jokes-that-land way (though it’s also that) but in a smart, Diana-Ross-appears-as-some-version-of-Tony-Kushner’s-Avenging-Angel way.”

“WHITE is pure gold…Ijames’ audacious and hilarious play takes on racism, sexism, and a handful of other isms…It’s bold, outlandish, insightful, and exciting…a sharp deconstruction of racial, ethnic, gender and social stereotypes, examined from multiple points of view…Subverting expectations, cracking wise and opening eyes, WHITE is quite a statement. Ijames fills it with twists, right up to its final moments. You’ll want to be along for the ride.” —DCMetroTheaterArts.com.

White

by James Ijames

On Mainstage March 29-April 14
Previews March 27-28

Opening Night: Friday, March 29, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.

Wednesdays at 7 p.m. | Thursdays at 7 p.m. | Fridays at 8 p.m.
Saturdays 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. | Sundays at 2 p.m.

White

Talkback with Actors:
Sunday, April 7 after the 2 p.m. show

For patrons requiring elevator access or extra assistance with stairs please click here.

Contact the Box Office (352 375 4477) or email boxoffice@thehipp.org for Accessible Seating

Content Advisory: Mature Audiences 17+
Play discusses race, LGBTQ+ themes and has some profanity and strong language.

WHITE is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Alternate Access Theatre

Our 112-year-old elevator has reached the end of its life and has been permanently closed. To ensure continued accessibility to live theatre experiences while awaiting the installation of a new elevator, the Hippodrome is introducing an initiative—“Alternate Access Theatre.” Please click here for more information. Performances will take place on our 2nd Stage/Hipp Cinema, located on the first floor, accommodating individuals requiring elevator access or extra assistance with stairs.

Alternate Access Theatre - White

“White” will be presented with adaptions to fit the smaller stage.

Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 7 p.m. – Tickets here

Please contact our Box Office to make a reservation (352 375 4477) or email boxoffice@thehipp.org

Plan your visit

Did you know?

The plot of White is inspired by a true story that took place in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. In 2014, the museum invited three outside curators—Anthony Elms (Associate Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia), Michelle Grabner (Artist and Professor in the Painting and Drawing Department at the School of the Art Institute, Chicago), and Stuart Comer (Chief Curator of Media and Performance Art at MoMA)—to each curate one floor of the exhibition from their varied perspectives and methodologies.

Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Programs at the Whitney, Donna De Salvo, touted the exhibition’s offerings as, “one of the broadest and most diverse takes on art in the United States that the Whitney has offered in many years.” However, of the 103 invited participants, just nine were black. Of those nine artists, one, Donelle Woolford, a 37-year-old woman from Conyers Georgia, was actually the fabrication of a white man, 52-year-old artist Joe Scanlan. This brought the total of black female artists in the biennial down to one.

More information here