Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Whitney White is a theatrical powerhouse. A director, writer, actor, and musician, White’s work has been seen on Broadway, Off Broadway, and at major institutions including The Public Theater, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and, most recently, the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her projects include Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, The Last Five Years, Macbeth in Stride, and By The Queen, which was featured in the Folger’s 2025 Reading Room Festival. In this episode, White discusses All Is But Fantasy, her four-play musical cycle created for the RSC, where it’s now receiving its world premiere. The high-energy, gig-theater show investigates Shakespeare’s women and ambition, focusing on Lady Macbeth, Emilia, Juliet, and Richard III. Each piece combines performance with original music, using sound and rhythm as a way into the text and as a tool for rethinking these characters whose inner lives are often cut short or overlooked. White reflects on why Shakespeare’s women so often meet tragic ends, how those stories con