Whitney White

Hari

Neff there's someone else too who's just like a not just a theater actor Whitney White is going to do it it's kind of cool to be like Sometimes it's going to be the biggest, most famous person in the world.

And sometimes it's going to be someone you just like and you know is going to be good at this.

Yeah.

I definitely have this like huge network of female directors and we're always talking to each other and always giving advice and venting to each other.

I talk to Whitney White all the time, Annie Kaufman, my two associates, you know, lots and lots of women.

we're always yeah in communication and trying to uplift each other um and it this year felt a little scary in the awards to be honest like i did feel for the last few years like there's been a real upswing of female directors being uplifted and being noticed and named for their contributions and this year was a little bit scary um and i hope it's not indicative of like a backlash but you know the country is where it's at and i feel like that does have an effect on the landscape for us but i do think women are making amazing work and i hope we continue to get big opportunities big and small opportunities to make that work

yeah

but I am wondering like how do you get in how do you like start

yeah are those things that are you're still figuring out and sussing out or is it a matter of like you feel like you kind of do know and it's now a matter of who has the resources to make it happen I

think some I know like you know the fellowship the roundabout has that autumn Angeletti had and Whitney White was the first person who had it like we've clearly seen that directors who have that fellowship yeah Like, it works.

They go on.

So we've got Schoolgirls or the African Mean Girls play.

Whitney White directing with Bettina Miller, Jasmine A. Rogers, and Danae Benton.

Thoughts? Concerns? Let's do it.

I don't

We also

have Tony nominee Jocelyn Bio as the playwright and Tony nominee Whitney White as direction and Queen Jean, Tony Award winner.

queen jean as the costume designer so i'm very excited for this this has already started previews um in september in september right now so just make sure you check this out because it is a limited run i believe it's only running until november at manhattan theater club

right up next we have the imaginary invalid this is a play also bill does a revival through roundabout theater company

And the collaboration really started with a really powerful conversation.

Or just an invitation to connect with our incredible writer, Bess Wall, and Whitney White, our director.

And we had such a good time on Zoom.

But it was just really great to talk about their journey, thinking about the space that we were building.

I was at a luncheon last year when Whitney was nominated for her incredible direction in Jaja's African Hair

Braiding play

written by Jocelyn B.O., And one of the performers got up and said, I just have this feeling to Whitney White.

Whitney White is such a powerful leader, incredible storyteller.

I'm so excited to be here with two of the women of the hour.

Playwright Jocelyn Beo and play director Whitney White are pretty epic individually.

Jocelyn is a Tony-nominated Ghanaian-American writer whose work keeps returning to the interior lives of African and African diasporic women, often with a really sharp comic edge.

And if you've seen Jaja's African Brady, you know how sharp that comic edge is.

And Whitney White is a Tony Award-nominated director, actor, and musician.

She's everywhere, directing everything, but most recently coming off of directing The Whoopi Monologues this summer and becoming the first Black woman ever nominated twice.

for directing in the Tonys.

White.

Yes, Whitney White has a couple of big things.

She has a big thing going on in New York called the African Girl or the Mean Girls play.

And it's And then she has this play as well, Liberation.

It's been 10 years since the inaugural world premiere production at MCC Theater, and it's been 10 years in the making of this Broadway bow.

And for me to be able to launch this season, to welcome back some of the, two of the greatest artists I know, Whitney White, director, and Jocelyn B.

O'Brien.

here at mtc for jaw draws african hair braiding to invite them back to collaborate with us again is a dream come true uh we start performances september 8th we open september 28th you're going to hear all about it from this fantastic company of artists i also want to give a special welcome to our partners jess chase from chase this production and susan colecci watson And anyway, you don't want to hear from me anymore.

Without further ado, I'm going to invite Whitney White to come talk about the production and Jocelyn.

Nikki, you guys, it's her first year as artistic director and she's letting us do this play.

Like, I can't toot toot beep beep that enough.