This article was originally published in American Theatre Magazine on December 22, 2025.
As D.C. theatres brace themselves for year two of Trump’s second administration, many are considering the balance between revolution and caution in artistic practice. Woolly Mammoth has always been planted firmly on the revolutionary side of the ledger, since its founding and leadership under Howard Shalwitz for 38 years and under his successor, Maria Manuela Goyanes, under whom Woolly earned its first Tony Award with Michael R. Jackson’s A Strange Loop. After seven years, Goyanes departed in September for Lincoln Center, with an interim artistic collective maintaining artistic efforts. Now Reggie D. White—a prolific playwright, director, and actor in his own right—has been named Woolly’s next artistic director, continuing his journey on a path he didn’t think was imaginable. He’ll start at the job next spring.
He comes from Arena Stage, where he was the right-hand man to artistic director Hana S. Sharif as senior director of artistic strategy and impact, and previously St. Louis Rep (also with Sharif). According to Goyanes, Shalwitz, and the theatre’s current managing director, Kimberly E. Douglas, White fits in with Woolly’s mission; Douglas said he “embodies the spirit of artistic ambition, takes thoughtful risks, and values openness.”
In his career as an actor, White made his Broadway debut in Matthew López’s The Inheritance and has performed many film and theatre roles, including most recently Goddess at the Public, and as a playwright he has had his plays developed at Bay Street Theater and Berkeley Rep. His play Fremont Ave recently had its world premiere at Arena and received an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award; it next plays South Coast Rep. I chatted with him last week about his career and his visions for Woolly’s future.
DANIELLA IGNACIO: Congratulations! What does it mean to begin this position at this moment in D.C., for you personally, as well as given where the city and the country are now?
REGGIE D. WHITE: I feel a little bit like Jonah from the biblical story. For the last 10 years of my career, a lot of people—friends, mentors, other artistic leaders—have looked at me and been like, “You’ve got the mark. You’re meant to be an artistic director,” and I was like, no, no, it’s too hard. (To read the rest of this article in American Theatre magazine, click here.)
SEE ALSO:
Woolly Mammoth announces Reggie D. White as next artistic director (news story, December 10, 2025)
Tender and turbulent Black male bonds in ‘Fremont Ave.’ at Arena Stage (review by Debbie Minter Jackson, October 21, 2025)
