Cultural appropriation in the art world
Ironically, in playing a role that meets the white art establishment's preconceptions of a black woman artist, Vanessa begins to feel empowered. She's as seduced by Balkonaé as museum leaders are, and disinclined to let Gus claim any victory in his ruse. By leveraging stereotypes to her advantage, she has, however fleetingly, got a leg up on the privileged likes of Gus.
The play is further peppered with complexity by Gus' domestic life. His doting partner Tanner (Jed Parsario), an Asian-American schoolteacher, is unsurprisingly ruffled by Gus' resentment over the rise in opportunities for artists of color. In one of the show's smartest, slyest exchanges, one that will be familiar to members of interracial couples, the pair jostles with the fact that they're not merely "us" or "the same."
The play's audacious final scene finds "White" becoming "Black Mirror," in more ways than one. In a twist worthy of television's dark sci-fi anthology, questions of "us" and "the same" return to Vanessa and Balkonaé. Standing before a museum audience of scenesters and donors, they literally debate each other, two characters trapped within one body, one wanting to speak her truth, the other willing to say whatever it takes to be heard.
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