At the time of our early morning Zoom call, Obie and Lilly award-winning director, actor and musician Whitney White is on the go and in demand.
The Chicago native had “Liberation,” which she directed, in its final weeks at Roundabout Theatre Company; a second show she’s directing, “The Last Five Years” starring pop star Nick Jonas, about to open at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre; and “Macbeth in Stride,” which she wrote, composed and will star in, about to launch at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAM Strong Harvey Theater (April 15-27).
How does she manage it all? Collaboration, White said, is key.
“You can’t make theater alone. You can, but it’s not that fun. [For] all these projects, I have team members I rely upon. And that’s really been the miracle of the season,” White said.
“In New York City, there’s such a trove of expertise and visionary thinking. I’m amazed by other artists, especially by women and artists of color. In a weird way, despite what’s going on in the world, we are in a renaissance of theater making. I’m working with all these beautiful people, and they make the impossible possible.”
The proud Brooklyn, New York transplant is especially eager to bring “Macbeth in Stride” to BAM, a place where she’s seen some of her favorite pieces by Black artists.
“First of all, Brooklyn forever, Brooklyn for life, Brooklyn strong. You can print that,” beamed White, who lives in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.
“BAM is a very important institution — it is our artistic hub. I love that that building is there that I can bring my son to. So it feels very meaningful to me. It’s not just about theater. It’s about music and cinema and Dance Africa.”
She added, “I’d like to see more lucrative mainstream arts projects coming to Brooklyn. I don’t think we should have to travel to midtown every time we want to see something good.”
When she’s not juggling theatrical productions, you might find White dining at one of her favorite spots in her beloved borough. Her picks include The Council Café, a Black-owned coffee shop on Nostrand Avenue; Macosa Trattoria on Tompkins (“go get some pasta”); Saraghina Bakery on Halsey Street (“the best croissant in America”); and Clover Hill, a Michelin-starred, Black-owned restaurant in Brooklyn Heights (“it’s pricey, but delicious for a fancy night out”).
“Now that I have a toddler, food is my happiness,” she said.
White started performing at a young age and she credited her mother with encouraging her and exposing her to the arts. Her trajectory as a writer and director started at Brown University’s MFA program.
“For me, the arts have always been a way to understand the world,” said White, who was a staff writer on Boots Riley’s “I’m a Virgo” (Amazon, Media Res).
“Black stories are part of the human experience. So we just gotta keep coming at it. We have to be bold. We have to be brilliant, and we have to be there for each other.”
Theatergoers may recognize White’s name from directing the Tony Award-winning “JaJa’s African Hair Braiding,” written by Jocelyn Bioh. The play marked her Broadway directorial debut and earned her a Tony nomination for Best Direction of a Play.
“Hair braiding salons are such a microcosm of our culture, but also a place of safety. I really feel that when I go to get my hair braided, it is a communal experience that gives me care and helps me prepare for dealing with the daily world,” said White, who grew up getting her hair braided at a Chicago salon called Clem’s African Hair Braiding.
“When I read Jocelyn’s script, I was amazed at the uncanny portraits of the braiders. They’re larger than life and yet completely realistic portrayals. It was also hilarious. It’s easy to make people cry right now. It’s really hard to make them laugh. So I jumped at the opportunity to direct it.”
Like “JaJa’s African Hair Braiding,” White’s “Macbeth in Stride” features fiercely dynamic female characters. In the work, White re-imagines the Shakespeare classic “Macbeth” told through rock, soul, and gospel music and a Black feminist lens.
“I read ‘Macbeth’ and I heard myself in it. So I always saw myself in that play, even if the world didn’t,” said White, who portrays Lady Macbeth.
“Macbeth in Stride” is one in a four-part musical exploration of what it means to be an ambitious woman, using Shakespeare’s most popular female characters as the source material. White is the first Black woman to helm a series of Shakespearean adaptations.
“I would read these iconic Shakespearean plays, and they would make me feel like I was listening to a record or an album. So Lady Macbeth sounds like Tina Turner, and Juliet sounds like indie folk and pop music, and Emilia from ‘Othello’ sounds like the blues. So I started writing music that helped score their experience,” she said.
“But then it became a much bigger project, because all my favorite Shakespearean women tend to die before Act 4, sometimes at their own hands. I started research to try and understand what these narratives do to us today. Literally, there is a thing called the Lady Macbeth Syndrome: if you’re too ambitious, these misconceptions or preconceptions, they come from somewhere.”
White continued: “The project is really a questioning of the effect of fatalistic stories on our lives. They hinder women from getting promotions. They hinder women from being taken too seriously when they’re emotional.”
Although the themes in “Macbeth in Stride” are contemplative, White performs with a live band and promises a rousing good time.
“I love music. I love theater. So I was like, let me try and do Shakespeare in a way that we might want to see,” she said.
“I grew up in an apostolic church, and the band at my church was so dope, so we’re really trying to go in for people. I have an incredible Black music director, Nygel D. Robinson. And I have three Black women who are performing the piece with me. They are everything. So if you don’t want to come out for me, come for them.” For more info, visit www.bam.org/macbeth.