Identity and Race Take Center Stage in Empathy Jam’s Staging of White People

In the heart of Aurora, Empathy Jam Theater Company‘s inaugural production seeks to tackle our country’s racial issues head-on. Through the stories of three regular people, the provocative play White People examines what it means to be a white American today.

“I have a long history with White People,” says Paul Wells, Empathy Jam founder and director of the production. While in between projects as a theater artist, Wells attended an early workshop of the production in New York on a whim in 1996.

“When I saw the title White People, I remember thinking it sounded intriguing and different,” he recalls. “We are talking about a long time ago. … Many Americans had the impression that issues with racial relations were largely in the past, which was something we were all a little naive about. I just fell in love with the point of the play and its structure – the way in which it’s three separate monologues delivered to the audience. And, even though it was a very early inclination of the piece, the writing was just so precise and so elegant.”

Following the performance, Wells introduced himself to the playwright, J.T. Rogers, and congratulated him on the piece. Wells’s affinity for the play was so strong that he quickly organized for the Mercury Players Theater he founded in Wisconsin to stage a production of White People in 1997, three years before the play’s official world premiere at the Philadelphia Theatre Company.

“I got even more out of the experience going back and seeing White People staged in Madison, and since then, I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that I would do this someday,” Wells says. “What’s interesting about this play is that when it was written, the critical response was mixed. A lot of the criticism of the play is exactly what you would expect from that time period. People said it was too on-the-nose and demonized white people, which it doesn’t. But as time has gone on, it has been better received.”

Wells believes that this is because what may have been outrageous in the late ’90s or even 2008, when Rogers last revised the play, seems spot-on right now. “Now, because we see these people on Fox News and around town, I think we’re all a lot more comfortable acknowledging that race is not a settled issue,” he says. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do on this issue, and so I thought that 2023 was a great time to revisit a play that I’ve always wanted to do.”

White People centers on three caucasian Americans – Alan, Mara Lynn and Martin – who are each struggling to establish relationships with people of different races. Empathy Jam is producing a stripped-down production with a minimal set using only three chairs, a few hand props and audio cues in Roaming Gnome Theatre‘s intimate black-box space. This simplicity allows the audience to focus on the actors’ powerful dialogue and emotional performances as they speak directly to the audience in a confessional tone about their feelings of guilt and prejudice.

Beth Crosby, who plays the former homecoming queen and housewife, Mara Lynn, initially turned down the project because of a busy schedule, but changed her mind after reading the script. “So much of the character is right there on the page for you to pick up,” Crosby says. “I didn’t have to go out and find her, craft all this backstory or do a lot of the work that sometimes you have to do when playing a more nebulous character. Mara Lynn was right there on the page, ready to be scooped up. It’s quite a technical challenge too, but us actors are always looking for stuff that’s going to challenge us. White People features a heavy monologue lift, with the fourth wall down. Additionally, I found the acting work required to make an unlikable character sympathetic – or, rather, empathetic, since that is the name of our company – to be really appealing.”

The play’s examination of privilege drew Brad Rutledge, who plays Martin, a high-status attorney, to the project. As a white, middle-class Boomer and former lawyer, Rutledge saw White People as an opportunity to confront unresolved issues in the fight against racism. “I think the thing that intrigued me about this play is that, as someone who won the privilege lottery, it asks you to really sit with your own guilt and dig down deep,” he says. “I’ve been through a lot of change in my lifetime, but it’s interesting to see what hasn’t changed, what’s still an issue and what’s becoming more of a problem.”

Justin Regan, who portrays Alan, a young professor attempting to navigate New York City, appreciates his character’s upbeat nature, which contrasts with his struggle to overcome deeply rooted biases. “My character has a very high ideal of what society should be,” Regan says. “He struggles to overcome his bias, but things happen that force him to reflect and try to figure out where the remnants of hate have come from. … It’s heavy, but there are definitive rays of hope at the end.”

During the rehearsal process, the cast engaged in candid conversations about their inherent racism and privilege.

“As four white people working on this play, I think that was such a necessary foundation for the work,” Crosby says. “I did not do any research. I feel like there are plenty of examples of what racist people look like and sound like; we see it in the media, from our leadership, in the White House and in our neighborhoods. It’s worth noting that the playwright doesn’t tie everything up with a nice, tidy bow at the end. These are flawed characters, and there’s no full redemption arch for them. In some ways, there’s no resolution; the play just ends on this really intense, poignant moment, and the audience is left to do the rest of the work.”

White People is more than just a play; it’s a call to action, a reflection on our shared history, and a reminder that Americans’ conversations about race and privilege are far from over.

White People, 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 6; and Saturday, October 7, Roaming Gnome Theatre, 10255 East 25th Avenue, Unit 5, Aurora. Tickets are available at roaminggnometheatre.com/seeashow.