West Coast Premiere of White Begins Performances

Performances of the West Coast premiere of James Ijames's White begin tonight at Shotgun Players.

In White, Gus is a talented gay white male artist on the rise. His good friend Jane is the new curator at a prestigious museum. When Jane informs him he's the exact opposite of what she's looking for, Gus is crushed. Then he hires Vanessa, an African-American actress who agrees to an unconventional role. White navigates the treacherous waters of code-switching and cultural appropriation with biting wit and a splash of disco realism.

M. Graham Smith directs a cast comprising Adam Donovan as Gus; Santoya Fields as Diana, Vanessa, and Balkonae; Luisa Frasconi as Jane; and Jed Parsario as Tanner.

The creative team includes Ulises Alcala (costume design), Sandra Young-Cellilo (costume assistant), Nina Ball (set design), Ray Oppenheimer (lighting design), Victoria Langlands (assistant lighting design), Cliff Caruthers (sound design), Kevin Clarke (intimacy choreography), Devon LaBelle (props design), Erin Gilley, (projection design). Annette Koehn is the stage manager, and Lisa Marie Rollins is the dramaturg. Production assistant Perry Fenton, assistant director Samira Mariama Hamid, and master electrician Caitlin Steinmann complete the team.

Performances continue through August 5.