S2; EP 6 -- David Henry Hwang: Yellow Face

“The advice that I would give myself now is not that different than
what I believed was true 30 or 40 years ago, which is the thing
that makes you different… the thing that makes you unique,
idiosyncratic, weird… that is your superpower as a writer. Maybe as
a human being, but particularly as an artist or a writer.” – Tony
Winner David Henry Hwang In David Henry Hwang’s play Yellow Face,
he explores the Chinese concept of face, an idea that correlates
directly to multi-hyphenating. Which is the face we are currently
wearing? Which is the one we want the world to believe about us?
Which one do we believe the most for ourselves? Hwang is a giant
among us – his resume spans years from hits, to flops, to plays, to
operas, to films to brilliant works penetrating the cultural
zeitgeist. In this episode, we discuss multi-hyphenating, making
choices in our plays, the weight of other people’s opinions, the
concept of face, and the state of creating art today. This episode
is wonderful for any episode, especially playwrights and soon-to-be
playwrights as it is a masterclass of inspiration from one of our
great living writers.  David Henry Hwang’s stage work includes
the plays M. Butterfly, Chinglish, Yellow Face, Golden Child, The
Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, as well as the Broadway musicals
Aida, Flower Drum Song, and Disney’s Tarzan. M. Butterfly was
revived on Broadway in 2017. His newest musical, Soft Power, a
collaboration with composer Jeanine Tesori, received four Outer
Critics Honors, a 2020 Grammy nomination and was a Finalist for the
2020 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Yellow Face was revived on Broadway
in Fall of 2024, starring Daniel Dae Kim. Called America’s
most-produced living opera librettist by Opera News, Hwang has
written thirteen libretti, including five with composer Philip
Glass. An American Soldier (with Huang Ruo) will receive its New
York premiere at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in May 2024.
Ainadamar (with Osvaldo Golijov) will be seen at the Metropolitan
Opera in Fall 2024. His screenplays include M. Butterfly and he is
penning an Anna May Wong biopic to star actress Gemma Chan as well
as a musical feature for Paramount Pictures. For television, he was
a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning
television series The Affair and is currently creating and show
running a new television series, Billion Dollar Whale. He also
co-wrote the Gold Record “Solo” with the late pop music icon
Prince.  David Henry Hwang is a Tony Award winner and
three-time nominee, a three-time OBIE Award winner, a Grammy Award
winner who has been twice nominated, and a three-time Finalist for
the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. A professor at Columbia University
School of the Arts, Hwang is a Trustee of the American Theatre
Wing, where he served as Chair, and sits on the Council of the
Dramatist Guild. Recent honors include his 2022 induction onto the
Lucille Lortel Playwrights’ Sidewalk, his 2021 election to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences and his 2018 induction into
the Theatre Hall of Fame.  In 2016, The David Henry Hwang
Society was founded by William C. Boles (Rollins College), Martha
Johnson (University of Minnesota), and Esther Kim Lee (University
of Maryland). The DHH Society is devoted to the scholarly
examination of plays by David Henry Hwang.  Learn more about
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