Speaking of “Yellow Face”: David Henry Hwang

By Bo | Friday, December 14, 2007 | 2 Comments

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hwang Speaking of Yellow Face: David Henry Hwang AsianWeek’s recent review of infamous Yellow Face performance (which John blogged about earlier this week) seems particularly timely given that David Henry Hwang’s first new play in 10 years, Yellow Face, opened this week at the historic Public Theater in New York City. Reviews have been mixed thus far.

The quasi-biographic play is a self-analytic exploration of racial identity and politics. The play begins with the protaginist, simply called D.H.H, leading a protest against the casting of Jonathan Pryce as a Eurasian in the Broadway musical “Miss Siagon” – something that Hwang actually did do in the early 90s. D.H.H. eventually goes on to mistakenly cast a white man (believing him to be of mixed race) in an Asian role in his own play. Hilarity/drama ensues as D.H.H. tries to cover up his mistake and save his own reputation as a leader in the Asian-American community.

“The play is a mix of fact and fiction, in a mock stage documentary style, about a character based on me,”

I find it intriguing that David Henry Hwang, an artist that has played a pivotal role in the cultivation of the Asian-American identity, still grapples with the discussion and exploration of race.

“I think I’ve been struggling since the “Miss Saigon” incident back in 1990 to make sense of, how do you talk about the nuances of race, both the desire to get past race and the awareness that racism still exists? How do you balance those two? I found that by creating a character that I actually gave my name to, in a strange way it liberated me to make him a character. Many times with autobiographical characters in plays, it’s very difficult to have them be fully fleshed out, even someone like Tom in “The Glass Menagerie.” It’s kind of counterintuitive, but by naming him after myself he became more of a character. “

Has anyone had an opportunity to check this play out?

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Claire

I saw Yellow Face in LA. It's definitely worth seeing. I went with my aunt, who noticed that some of the humor was insider, as in there were parts of the play when you could tell who in the audience was Asian by their laughter or silence. It's just a good production overall, and doesn't take itself too seriously. I thought he did a great job of balancing the central dilemma with some good solid writing and humor.

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