Lily White

by Charles Zito (he/him)

Lily posts what she considers to be a joke about her brother's impending wedding but the Internet interprets her actions as homophobic and racist. As the joke goes viral her private thoughts become public liabilities and the explosive results of her own racial assumptions blow apart her family. Left in the rubble she searches for answers.

Lily posts what she considers to be a joke about her brother's impending wedding but the Internet interprets her actions as homophobic and racist. As the joke goes viral her private thoughts become public liabilities and the explosive results of her own racial assumptions blow apart her family. Left in the rubble she searches for answers.

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Lily White

Recommended by

  • Cheryl Bear: Lily White

    The nature of social media has a funny way of unleashing the inner prejudices and biases that one secretly holds. Ready or not, it's time to sort through the wreckage after the crash. Well done.

    The nature of social media has a funny way of unleashing the inner prejudices and biases that one secretly holds. Ready or not, it's time to sort through the wreckage after the crash. Well done.

  • Nick Malakhow: Lily White

    A cringe-inducing, foot-in-mouth tweet catalyzes a catastrophic wedding weekend and a family's reevaluation of their relationships to one another, race, and intersectional identity. Lily feels at first charmingly oblivious but, as the story progresses, her ingrained presumptions and prejudices reveal themselves to be more than just harmless misunderstandings. The conversations in this play are honest and fascinating, and I appreciated how well-rendered all of the characters were. Zito paints here an ostensibly liberal white family that is forced into uncomfortably open conversations they weren...

    A cringe-inducing, foot-in-mouth tweet catalyzes a catastrophic wedding weekend and a family's reevaluation of their relationships to one another, race, and intersectional identity. Lily feels at first charmingly oblivious but, as the story progresses, her ingrained presumptions and prejudices reveal themselves to be more than just harmless misunderstandings. The conversations in this play are honest and fascinating, and I appreciated how well-rendered all of the characters were. Zito paints here an ostensibly liberal white family that is forced into uncomfortably open conversations they weren't ready to have but so needed to--a microcosm of a certain white American experience.

  • Sarah Fenner King: Lily White

    Watched this performed as a staged reading with the Ignition Arts Reading Series at the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma in January 2019. Zito crafts a modern worst-nightmare situation that viscerally unfolds like a car crash in slow motion before your eyes. It all escalates as the initially likeable protagonist digs in her heels and digs her own grave, and makes you wonder what you'd do in a similar situation.

    Watched this performed as a staged reading with the Ignition Arts Reading Series at the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma in January 2019. Zito crafts a modern worst-nightmare situation that viscerally unfolds like a car crash in slow motion before your eyes. It all escalates as the initially likeable protagonist digs in her heels and digs her own grave, and makes you wonder what you'd do in a similar situation.

View all 5 recommendations

Character Information

Lily White centers on the interactions in a multi-racial family. The actor playing Vance must be Black, the other actors White, except the neighbor, Sãndra.
  • Vance
    Character Age
    Late 20s
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    Black
    Character Gender Identity
    Male
  • Lily
    Character Age
    Early 30s
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    White
    Character Gender Identity
    Female
  • Reid
    Character Age
    Early 30s
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    White
    Character Gender Identity
    Male
  • Kay
    Character Age
    Late 50s/Early 60s
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    White
    Character Gender Identity
    Female
  • Sandra
    Character Age
    Early 30s
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    black or brown latina
    Character Gender Identity
    Female
  • Ryan
    Character Age
    Late 20s
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    White
    Character Gender Identity
    Male

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Wordsmyth Theater Company, Houston TX, Year 2019
  • Type Reading, Organization Theater for the New City, Year 2017
  • Type Workshop, Organization Bristol Valley Theater, Year 2016

Awards