WHITE by James Ijames
Gus, a gay white man, is an accomplished artist who desperately wants his paintings included in the upcoming exhibition The New America at the Parnell Museum. But the curator, while admiring Gus’s work, excludes it, in order to display art by Black and women artists. Gus then hires Vanessa, a Black female actor, to masquerade as the creator of his work. Vanessa takes her impersonation to the extreme, and Gus is left to deal with the consequences. “White,” written in 2015, was awarded the Terrence McNally New Play Award.
Art by Keyon Monté
James Ijames
James Ijames won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize and received a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Play for “Fat Ham.” His work examines identity, race, and society, with surreal twists and biting humor. Ijames is Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University and co-artistic director of the Wilma Theater.
Zack Powell is a DC/Baltimore based actor and a Resident Company Member at Everyman Theater (Lort-D) where he has starred in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Book Club Play, The Sound Inside, The Lion in Winter, Sense and Sensibility and The Skin of Our Teeth. Other regional credits include: The Shakespeare Theatre Co.: Red Velvet, Dunsinane; The Kennedy Center: Shear Madness (600+ performances!), Sylvain; Alabama Shakespeare Festival: Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Cleveland Playhouse: Sherwood—The Adventures of Robin Hood; Round House Theatre: The Legend of Georgia McBride; Theater J: The Last Night of Ballyhoo; RepStage: E2; Washington Stage Guild: Arms and the Man; The American Shakespeare Center: King Lear, Twelfth Night, Henry VI pt 2 and Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson; Folger Theatre: Midsummer Night's Dream, Off-Square Theatre Co.: The Cherry Orchard, Godspell, Cabaret; plus three seasons at The Utah Shakespeare Festival and two seasons at The Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Film: Tapawingo, The Call. Zack lives in a townhouse in Alexandria, VA with his husband Joe Smelser and his adorable Shih Tzu Wick. BFA Wichita State University, MFA Illinois State University. Instagram @zackpowellthezactor
Felicia Curry is the Emmy-nominated host of WETA Arts on WETA/PBS. Curry was in the Tony-nominated Broadway revival and national tour of Into the Woods. Off- Broadway, she reopened the iconic Billie Holiday Theater as Undine in Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation and received an AUDELCO nomination for the solo show Queen’s Girl in the World at Abingdon Theatre Company. Curry is a Helen Hayes Award winner for Lela & Co., an RTCC Award winner for The Color Purple, a Berkshire Theatre Critics Award winner for Nina Simone: Four Women and a recipient of the Anderson Hopkins Award for Excellence in Theatre Arts. She is an Artistic Associate at Ford’s Theatre and Resident Company Member at Factory 449 and Everyman Theatre. Felicia has been named one of “12 DC Stage Dynamos” by The Washington Post, one of “DC’s Biggest Theatre Stars” by Washingtonian Magazine. @thefeliciacurry
Emily Kester is an actor based in Washington DC. Her recent credits include At the Wedding at Studio Theatre and Miss Nelson is Missing at Imagination Stage. Her regional theatre credits include The Trip to Bountiful, Silent Sky, and A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theatre; The Hard Problem and Edgar and Annabel at Studio Theatre; Maz and Bricks at Solas Nua; Detroit ’67 at Signature Theatre; Labour of Love at Olney Theatre Center; The Last Schwartz at Theater J; Noises Off and The Revolutionists at Everyman Theatre; Equus at Constellation Theatre Company; and The Little Mermaid and The BFG at Imagination Stage. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and holds a BFA in Acting. On social media @emkester (Instagram) emilykester.com
A Chorus Line 2024 (Paul) Last seen as Pablo in Sister Act. Also seen at Toby’s as a swing in Rocky and Ghost. Recent Credits – Iron Crow Theatre: The Rocky Horror Show (Rocky) and Head Over Heels (Basilius); Fredrick Towne Players – RENT (Roger); Other Voices Theatre: Evita (Che). As always, for Dolores –SISTER ACT 2023 (Pablo) –GHOST, The Musical 2022 (Swing)
Reginald L. Douglas currently serves as the Artistic Director of Mosaic Theater Company of DC. He has directed at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Round House Theatre, TheaterWorks Hartford, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Everyman Theatre, Weston Theater Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Audible, Bard at the Gate, Profile Theatre, Playwrights Realm, The Kennedy Center, Pittsburgh CLO, Arizona Theatre Company, Barrington Stage, and many other national companies. He received the National Theatre Conference’s Emerging Professional Award in 2020 and the Georgetown University Legacy of a Dream Award in 2024.
Myeves Lucien is a rising Senior BFA Acting Major from Howard County, MD. She currently serves as President of The Howard Players Non-Profit Organization. Her credits include: Odette/Lazare for the House that Will Not Stand, Female Understudy for In the Blood at STC, Assistant Director for Heathers: The Musical, Producer for the Next Up Festival, Head of Marketing for Seven Guitars, Assistant Costume Designer for Putnam County Spelling Bee. She also has worked for Lime Arts Productions as their Communications Director.
Ann Greer is founding producer of theater programming at The Phillips Collection. Since 2010, Ann has created programs that foster interdisciplinary connections between the visual arts and theater. Staged readings of Art, Vincent in Brixton, A Picasso, Gee's Bend, and other plays have featured the region's most accomplished directors and performers. Under Ann's leadership, the Phillips has commissioned scripts and staged their premieres--five short plays inspired by Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series and a play on the life and work of Alma W. Thomas. Programs also have included workshop readings of new plays, and panel discussions on new play development in DC and the plays of August Wilson. Ann led the establishment of Phillips partnerships with Arena Stage, Round House Theatre, Theater J, and Mosaic Theater. As a theater journalist, she has written many articles for The Washington Post, American Theatre, and Capitol File, among others. Ann was an arts reporter for WAMU and the region's first online theater critic, for Digital City Washington. She studied acting at Studio and Shakespeare Theatres, and was on staff at Arena Stage and the Folger.