Overview

Now—right now—what does it mean to be a white American? What does it mean for any American to live in a country that is not the one you were promised? A darkly funny play about the lives of three ordinary Americans placed under the spotlight: Martin, a Brooklyn-born high powered attorney for a white-shoe law firm in St. Louis, MO; Mara Lynn, a housewife and former homecoming queen in Fayetteville, NC; and Alan, a young professor struggling to find his way in New York City. Through heart-wrenching confessions, they wrestle with guilt, prejudice, and the price they and their children must pay for their actions. White People is a candid, brutally honest meditation on race and language in our culture.

Production History

World Premiere: Philadelphia Theatre Company (2000). 

Subsequent productions: Salt Lake Acting Company (2000); New Theatre, Miami (2004); New Repertory Theatre, Boston (2007); Gift Theatre, Chicago, and Trustus Theater, SC (both 2008). Revised play premiered Off Broadway and then ran at Shakespeare & Company, the Berkshires (both 2009); CATF (2010).

Honors

Nominated for Best Play of the Year by the LA Drama Critics Circle, the Elliot Norton Awards of Boston, the Carbonell Awards of South Florida, and the Barrymore Awards of Philadelphia.