White at Hippodrome Theatre

White by James Ijames

March 29-April 14; Previews March 27-28

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.