Meet Chinai Routté, the Baltimore‑born performer and educator turned Everyman Theatre resident actor

By Alexis LaRue
AFRO Intern
alarue@afro.com

Each season, a variety of artists take the stage as part of the Everyman Theatre Resident Company. Now included in the number is Chinai Routté, a Baltimore native who became a member in 2025. 

The AFRO recently sat down with Routté, a cast member of Everyman Theatre’s latest production, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” to discuss her dual career as both a professional performer and an educator.

AFRO: Who or what inspired you to step into the world of stage performance?

Chinai Routté (CR): My mom was in the military. We left Baltimore and moved to Georgia. It was a good way for me to escape the realities of having to find new friends, go to a new school– stuff like that. Creating and making believe a fantasy and daydreaming were all fun things for me. And, I didn’t really know how close or how easily accessible it would be when I first started doing it. Then, my high school teacher suggested that I do a play and the pageant at the school, and that’s kind of where it kicked off for me. 

AFRO: Why do you think it’s important to teach young individuals, specifically Black youth, the art of performance?

CR: I feel like art is a way for you to reach your full self. Whether you’re pursuing an artistic field or not, I feel like if you get exposed to art, enjoying art for art’s sake, getting an opportunity to express yourself, and learning your voice is a great way to meet your fullest potential. Being able to teach young people, particularly in performing arts, theater, acting, I find that there is an immediate transformation within that person because they find a confidence that they didn’t have before. And those who were shy got to have a bit more courage. I even had an experience where a young person came to the class and would only speak above a whisper. We used a four to six week class of acting, character development, scene study and theater games. And by the end of the class, this young lady was the loudest one in the room. Things like that let me know what we’re doing as artists or gifts. 
We just have a gift that we have to keep passing on and keep showing young people in particular how to reach their full selves, be courageous, be bold. Use your voice, advocate for yourself. I think that’s what it does. 

AFRO: What advice would you give to those who may want to step into that field? 

CR: You are worthy, you are needed, who you are is needed in the marketplace. Don’t be afraid to show us who you are. 

AFRO: What makes the show relevant to the current time period that we’re living in? 

CR:  In the story, Vanya talks a lot about change. Things that used to be that aren’t anymore, and how you’re either gonna get left behind in it, lost, or you kind of force yourself to get with the program. And I think that we’re experiencing a lot of change right now. 
Some of us have fallen in a few of those categories. I also think that there’s a lot of joy and laughter that happens, and we’re in a space where joy and laughter are part of our resilience. It’s a part of our stabilization. How can we continue to go on if we find joy, peace and laughter in something that we can also find healing in as well? And all people can relate to family drama. It has a lot of chaos and drama, but also a lot of heart and a lot of love. 

AFRO: So talk about your character in the show. What do you think people should take away from your character?

CR: Well, Cassandra, at first glance, may be a bit wacky. 
She is a foreteller. She kind of sees things and shares that information with people, whether they listen to her or not. Cassandra represents exactly what Chekhov wrote her for in Greek mythology. She has this gift of seeing into the future, but she is cursed with no one believing her. 
My hope is that people see her as someone who wants to love and support and nurture people, and that she’s kind of a—not a town crier, but definitely an agent, and a whisperer of things to come. Hopefully, the people will take her advice and maybe be on her side in the audience. I want people to see that she’s just a ball of love, and that she means all good for all the people.

AFRO:  How much of you do you put into this character? 

CR: I don’t think Cassandra and I are too far apart in terms of being women, and having a lot of love and heart to give. I’m also a very servant oriented and nurturing person. When I look at Cassandra, of course I’m bringing my own personal experiences to her. I don’t think I’m as wild as she is. Some of my family may beg to differ, but I think that there’s a way that she approaches things that are very different from me. But as an actor, I always find my way to bring my personal POV (point of view) to the character. How can I relate to her? 
It’s a way that I can ground the character and also have empathy for their story and not judge them, but really honor them, and pursue them with vigor in that way while still allowing their story, as well as their personal point of view. It’s a journey of advocacy for the character, it’s a journey of revelation for the character, too, particularly with Cassandra. There isn’t very much history told in the play about her, so I’ve had to create whatever that is for her. I feel like I’ve been doing a really good job of sort of, like, ‘No, Cassandra would do this. No, Cassandra is not that. Oh yeah, Cassandra does that for sure.’ I think, in that collaborative way, between what the story shares, who Cassandra is and who I am, I think I’ve been able to create a wonderful character that our audiences get to see every night. 

AFRO: What’s your creative process like when it comes to doing something like that? 

CR:  Research. Lots and lots of research. There are many reads of the script that I do. Lots of questions that I ask: Why is she here? What does she ask? Why does she say this here? 
What does this mean? Particularly with this play, because she’s a little bit different than any person I’ve ever portrayed before. I sit with this script and do what we call script analysis or character development. Writing, thinking about—OK, Cassandra, is in this house that’s in Bucks County, Pa. 
It’s a real place, so I can Google that on the map. Oh, that’s really close to Philly. That’s probably where she’s from. right?
 Then I go down this deep dive of me having a family in Philly. So I’m like, who does she resemble to me in my own family, right? And I think about how I can sort of lace those characteristics within Cassandra, because it probably is similar if she’s from that area. So I research and do deep dives. What’s beautiful about what Durang has created is that it is heavily influenced by Chekhov. But you don’t need it to know how to represent these people. It’s really good to know though because it adds such color and flavor to it. 
And then I just listen. I’m listening heavily, particularly, to the other folks in the play, how does she relate to the other people, and what do I want her messaging to be? I’m often thinking about what my objective is when I come into that house. What are my intentions? What do I want? 
And the end result. How do I want that outcome to be? And people always ask, ‘Well, what do you want the audience to feel?’ 
And it’s so funny that it’s not the first thing I think about. ‘How do I want Cassandra to be elevated in this space? How do I want her story to be told? 
How do I want her to be remembered?’ is where I focus. It’s been a really interesting journey. 

AFRO: I know you’ve been with this company since August of last year. What made you choose this company, and how long do you intend to stay?

CR:  As long as they’ll have me. They chose me, and that’s a pretty wonderful thing to be chosen. But I do the work, and I come in and the people are amazing people to work with. Some of the most brilliant artists in all areas of the theater–not just the people that I work with on stage but behind the stage, and the administrative offices, some of the kindest people you ever want to encounter. It makes it feel like it’s a match for me and who I am. My first show with Everyman Theatre was 2012 I believe. If you would have told me back then that this is where I’d be sitting now, I’d have been like, ‘Stop playing.’ So it feels like a full circle moment, because even this show that I’m doing now, ‘Sonia, Vanya, and Masha, and Spike,’ that’s directed by Vincent Lancisi, who’s the founding artistic director. I did my first show at Everyman with him. And so it feels like this wild ride of synchronicities here at Everyman for me. 
And now that he’s retiring, he ushered me in and I’m helping to seal this moment for him by being a part of this show. I hope we get to do this here at Everyman all the time with me as a company member. So many great things you know, of course, I’d love to do more incredible work on stage, but also be able to expand Everyman’s brand across the nation, the globe, and be able to encourage more young people to explore the arts. Get more folks in the seats, exposing art to more young people in particular, because I believe if we start there, then we are creating the next generation of  theater goers and art makers. I’m looking forward to what the future holds. 

AFRO:  How did you want to shape that future? And it clearly just shows that you kind of have a little bit of it mapped out. 

CR: It’s something that lives inside of me, and something that I’ve always wanted to do. And being asked to be a part of a company gives me an artistic home – if you will – to be able to explore some of those things that I’m curious about. And some of the things that their mission is all about aligns with mine. 

AFRO:  So I saw that you worked with the Cleveland Playhouse. How does that differ from being here or any other place that you’ve been doing performances? 

CR:  Well, this is home, and my roots go deep here in Baltimore. Being able to perform here, and be at Everyman with people I’ve worked with for a number of years, but also to be able to invite my family, who is local, here to come see our performances. It’s just like the icing on the cake. That’s the difference. 
And then there’s always something about giving back to the place that gave to you. My mother gave birth to me, but she gave birth to me here. So I’m part of the soil and the fabric of the city. And so being able to give back in a way is also an enriching aspect of working here versus any other place. 


AFRO: So when it comes to those that you may have taught, past and present, how does that influence your own abilities as an actor? 

CR:  You know, it’s so interesting that you ask that question. I was in a school today speaking with students. 
And their reflections on our performance really had my gears turning about how I show up as an artist on stage, as well as how I show up as a teaching artist in front of them. And so, there’s a part of me that wants to make them proud. But then there’s this part of me that wants to make sure that they’re clear about my position as an artist, and as Cassandra. I’m still actually thinking about the conversations that I had with those students, and I was impacted so much that I think that I’m going to make some different choices
to honor some of the conversations that we had. And that’s not gonna shift our overall production, right? It’s gonna be the show, but there may be some different things in terms of what Cassandra will think about as she enters that space. But it absolutely influences me in a good way. I want them to have the best possible experience, but more than that, I want something in them to shift. 
And I also expect them to be shifted. 

AFRO: And finally, when it comes to people seeing the show for the first time, how would you describe it? 
Just talk about the show and how do you feel about it, describe it, things of that nature? 
CR: Buckle up. It’s a wild ride. 
Three siblings, stuck in the middle of their midlife. The time that you meet these people is the moment that they begin to think a little bit differently about their own circumstances. And these three siblings, who’ve done the same thing, every day, are faced with other people that make them change. 
Now, when you see it, you’re gonna be like, Whoa, this is wacky. This is crazy. Oh, my gosh. 
Because it’s crazy hilarious, and I’m not saying that, because I’m in the show, I’m saying it because I listen to the show every night and I am laughing aloud every night at my colleagues as they’re saying their lines on stage. It is uproariously funny. And there may be some things that the audiences take that might hit home for them. I saw a gentleman in the audience doubled over in laughter, and tears flew out of his eyes because it seemed like … everything that was being said resonated with him. So it’s a wild ride of three siblings in their midlife, wrestling with change. And a cast of characters who are wacky and loving, and some self-centered. 
And maybe wear clothes—or not.

The post Meet Chinai Routté, the Baltimore‑born performer and educator turned Everyman Theatre resident actor appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.