Yellow Face (play)
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''Yellow Face'' is a semi-autobiographical play by
David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yellow ...
, featuring the author himself as the protagonist, DHH, mounting his 1993 play ''
Face Value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Howe ...
''. The play's themes include questions of race and of the interaction between media and politics.


Production history

''Yellow Face'' premiered in Los Angeles at the
Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...
in association with
East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give v ...
in May 2007. The play opened
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
at the
Joseph Papp Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...
on December 10, 2007, and closed on January 13, 2008. Directed by
Leigh Silverman Leigh Silverman is an American director for the stage, both off-Broadway and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. She was nominated for the 2014 Tony Award, Best Direction of a Musical for the musical ''Violet (musical), Violet'' and the 2008 Drama Desk ...
, the cast featured
Hoon Lee Tong Hoon Lee (born July 18, 1973) is an American stage, film and television actor, known for playing Job in the Cinemax original series ''Banshee'' and the King in the Broadway revival of ''The King and I'', and voicing Hamato Yoshi/Splinter in ...
and
Noah Bean Noah Whipple Bean (born August 20, 1978) is an American actor best known for his roles as Ryan Fletcher on The CW action-thriller series ''Nikita'', as David Connor on the FX legal drama ''Damages'' and his leading performance in the independent ...
as the leads."'Yellow Face' 2007"
lortel.org, accessed October 11, 2015
Hwang won his third
Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
in Playwriting, and he was a third-time finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
. In 2013, the play was produced as a two-part YouTube video directed and adapted by
Jeff Liu Jeff Liu is an American writer, screenwriter, theater director, composer, and film director. His theatrical productions include the world premieres of: ''Texas'', ''Solve for X'' by Judy Soo Hoo, ''Murderabilia'', ''Terminus Americana'' (Ovation ...
, starring Ryun Yu as DHH,
Sab Shimono is a Japanese-American actor. He began his career on stage on Broadway and in regional theaters, starring in musicals like ''Mame'', ''Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen'', and ''Pacific Overtures''. He has appeared in dozens of movies and television ...
as HYH, and
Christopher Gorham Christopher Gorham (born August 14, 1974) is an American actor who is best known for the ABC series ''Ugly Betty''. He has also appeared in such series as '' Insatiable'', ''Popular'', ''Odyssey 5'', '' Felicity'', ''Jake 2.0'', '' The Magicians ...
as Marcus G. Dahlman, with the rest of the cast played by
Ki Hong Lee Ki Hong Lee (born September 30, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Minho in the ''Maze Runner'' film series and Dong Nguyen in the Netflix sitcom ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt''. Early life and education Lee was born i ...
,
Emily Kuroda Emily Keiko Kuroda (born October 30, 1952) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mrs. Kim on TV's ''Gilmore Girls'', but she has had a long career on stage and screen and is a veteran of East West Players, Los Angeles's premi ...
,
Linda Park Linda Park (born July 9, 1978) is a South Korean-born American actress, best known for her portrayal of communications officer character Hoshi Sato in the television series ''Star Trek: Enterprise''. Early life Park was born in South Korea and ...
, Justin James Hughes, Michael Krawic, and Tracy Winters. In 2013, ''Yellow Face'' made its UK premiere at Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, London, on May 21, produced by Special Relationship Productions and directed by Alex Sims. This production transferred to the
Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
on May 5, 2014. In June/July 2022, the play was produced by Theatre Raleigh and directed by
Telly Leung Telly Leung is an American actor, director, singer and songwriter. He is known for his work in musical theatre on Broadway and for his role as Wes, a member of the Dalton Academy Warblers on the Fox comedy-drama series '' Glee''. In 2011, he starr ...
. The play is currently published by
Theatre Communications Group Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre in the United States. The organization also publishes ''American Theatre'' magazine and ''ARTSEA ...
and in an acting edition by
Dramatists Play Service Dramatists Play Service (also known as The Play Service) is a theatrical-publishing and licensing house, established in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Society for Authors' Representatives. DPS publishes English-language ...
, Inc. The fictionalized DHH also appears in Hwang's musical ''
Soft Power In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power). In other words, soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. A defin ...
''.


Background

In an interview, Hwang explained: "It’s a memoir – a kind of unreliable memoir. The main character is named after me and based on me. There are some things in it that are true and there are some things in it that aren’t true. ... The story of 'Yellow Face' dates back to the 'Miss Saigon' controversy in 1990. That was when I was involved in the big casting controversy... I just naturally tend to write humorously, and for me, it’s not an issue of trying to write lines that are funny. I don’t think that works. It’s having a situation that’s inherently comic and then trying to be truthful to the character in that situation."Winyan Soo Hoo
"Bearing the ‘Yellow Face': Q&A with David Henry Hwang"
''Washington Post'', February 22, 2014


Plot summary

''Yellow Face'' opens with DHH receiving an E-mail from Marcus G. Dahlman in 2006 about his recent travels in China. DHH reflects on how Marcus disappeared from the public eye. He begins in 1990 with the
controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
over the casting of
Jonathan Pryce Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he wa ...
, a white
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
actor, in an Asian role in ''
Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...
'' as the musical transfers from London to New York City. Although DHH receives a lot of publicity about his protests against the casting and yellow face makeup, especially as the first Asian-American playwright to win a
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
(for ''
M. Butterfly ''M. Butterfly'' is a play by David Henry Hwang. The story, while entwined with that of the opera ''Madama Butterfly'', is based most directly on the relationship between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu, a Peking opera singer. T ...
''), the production of ''Miss Saigon'' ultimately continues without changes to the cast. DHH then writes the play ''Face Value'', based partly on the ''Miss Saigon'' controversy, and casts Marcus G. Dahlman as one of the lead Asian roles in his play. DHH is at first convinced that Marcus is part Asian but eventually realizes he is fully white. DHH fears he will appear hypocritical for the casting after his protest of yellow face, but is unable to fire Marcus on the basis of his race. DHH has him adopt the name "Marcus Gee" and tells the public that Marcus has
Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...
ancestry as a Jew with Siberian ancestry. Though their deception is successful, ''Face Value'' receives negative reviews and closes in previews, losing $2 million. DHH tries to move on, but he later discovers that Marcus has continued playing his role as an Asian in all parts of his life, acting in Asian roles and becoming an activist for Asian American rights. This angers DHH, who views him as an "ethnic tourist". The play further explores DHH's relationship to his father, HYH, and the relationship of the Chinese American community to America. HYH is a successful immigrant who built the Far East National Bank in California. After contributing monetarily to political campaigns, he and others affiliated with the bank, including
Wen Ho Lee Wen Ho Lee or Li Wenho (; born December 21, 1939) is a Taiwanese-American scientist who worked for the University of California at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. He created simulations of nuclear explosions for the purposes of ...
, get investigated by Senator
Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee f ...
, who believes they are funneling money from China to influence American politics. In the course of this, DHH and Marcus get implicated as Chinese collaborators. DHH beseeches Marcus to reveal his true identity as white, deciding he cares more about defending the Chinese American community than hiding his mistakes. Marcus ends his deception, and Thompson's investigation breaks down. DHH's father dies in 2005, having lost faith in the American Dream. DHH and Marcus converse after their E-mails, before DHH admits to the audience that Marcus is an entirely fictional character he created to explore messy questions about race and nationality. At the character’s request, DHH writes Marcus a "happy ending" in which he moves to a small village in China and is eventually accepted into the community there.


Casts

Original UK Cast, Park Theatre and
Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...


See also

*
Portrayal of East Asians in Hollywood Portrayals of East Asians in American film and theatre has been a subject of controversy. These portrayals have frequently reflected an ethnocentric perception of East Asians rather than realistic and authentic depictions of East Asian cultures, c ...


References


External links

* {{David Henry Hwang Plays by David Henry Hwang Obie Award recipients 2007 plays Off-Broadway plays Satirical plays Plays based on actual events Plays about race and ethnicity Plays set in New York City