Whitesplaining

Please note: The opening of “Whitesplaining” has been postponed. There will be no performances this weekend Sept. 9th- 11th. Ticket holders have been contacted. Please contact our box office to exchange or refund tickets for 9/9, 9/10, 9/11, or 9/13 – theatretix@vcu.edu / 804-828-6026.

Devised in collaboration by The Conciliation Project and VCUarts Theatre
Directed by Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates

New performance dates are Thursday September 15th – Saturday September 24th:
TH 9/15: 8:00pm – Preview Night
FRI 9/16: 8:00pm – Opening Night
SAT 9/17: 8:00pm
SUN 9/18: 3:00pm
TUES 9/20: 8:00pm – Industry Night
THURS 9/22: 8:00pm – Student Night (all students use code VCUARTS at checkout for $5 tix)
FRI 9/23: 8:00pm
SAT 9/24: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Performances off-campus: The Basement, 300 E Broad St.

The Conciliation Project and VCUarts Theatre present Whitesplaining. This devised piece is the end result of a collaborative process between the local social justice theatre company and VCU Department of Theatre. Members of The Conciliation Project (TCP) and VCUarts Theatre students worked together to create an original script using TCP’s signature approach to collective storytelling. Research such as interviews, stories, and writings from many perspectives were used as part of the process to explore whiteness through the lens of systems like media, religion, and education. Members of TCP, VCUarts Theatre students, and local professionals are involved in all aspects of Whitesplaining, including the devising process and acting as performers and designers for the staged work.

Leading the project is the venerable Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, a long-time professor for VCUarts Theatre and the founder and artistic director of TCP.  She says, “Our devising process shakes up all the research and information gathered as we collectively begin to dramatize it, to embody it, and to explore it. We use satire, story, anecdotes, commentary, music, and dance to immerse ourselves in the text, and in the various characters and character ‘types’ as they live the stories they tell. We intentionally engage the cultural ‘norms’ as well as the various mythologies surrounding race, racism, and the truth of white skinned privilege to unpack the truths we find and perhaps generate more questions in the process.” Read more about Whitesplaining from Dr. T here.

Tickets: General Admission – $15. Discounts available for students, alumni, seniors and VCU community. vcutheatre.showclix.com, theatretix@vcu.edu, 804-828-6026.

Whitesplaining has an expected run time of about 1 hour twenty minutes, with no intermission. Whitesplaining is recommended for ages 14+