David Henry Hwang and Leigh Silverman Are Creating a Fresh YELLOW FACE

David Henry Hwang didn't think that Yellow Face was a show for the masses when it premiered off-Broadway 17 years ago.  

"I thought this was a comedy that would mostly be for Asian audiences. It's very gratifying that over the years it's grown in stature, it's been done around, and the culture has moved too," Hwang explained. "So, when we did a reading of the version for Audible last year we discovered 'Oh, it's even funnier now!' because the issues that are the heart of it that powered the comedy are so much more central to our culture. It's really exciting to now be getting to do this on Broadway for you know a mainstream theater audience."

Now, the comedy is finally getting its turn on Broadway with original directer Leigh Silverman at the helm.

"I got sent this play in 2006," said Silverman. "I had just directed Lisa Kron's play Well, which was an autobiographical, metatheatrical play about Lisa and her mother. And Oskar [Eustis] called me and said, 'I have another autobiographical, metatheatrical play, but this is about David Henry Hwang and his father.' And I was like, 'Wow, I didn't know this was a niche and I got it!'

"It was the beginning of what is now... [David and I have] done eight shows together. And I really have had the greatest, most incredible experience developing work with him over these years and to be able to revisit the first show that brought us together is extraordinary. What an honor, my God."

The pair isn't picking up quite where they left off, however.  "We originally conceived this as a one act, because it's a play that starts out very much as almost farcical and then goes to a more emotional place by the end. To try to do it in one shot felt good, but it was so long in the original version. Then when we did the out-of-town in LA, Leigh stuck in an intermission before the first preview. So we are going back to the one act version, which means this is a trimmer version.

"And also we wanted to relook at casting. The original version was kind of binary, with Asians and white actors. Again, the culture has moved forward, so you wanted to make this cast, more inclusive. But Leigh also said, "Okay, if we're going to do that in a play that is to some extent about casting, then we should explore that in the play itself. And I think we found a way to do that that's fun and keeping in the spirit of the show."

"[David]'s always looking to write the better joke, make something trimmer," added Silverman. "He's working nonstop on it, as he does, which is part of why I love working with him so much. He has a lot of energy and I love that. And he's just, he's always so ahead of the curve. And, now that we've landed this play right in this incredible zeitgeist moment where talk around representation, representation on stage, and is part of our cultural conversation right now. So, to be doing Yellow Face at this time, I think it's gonna resonate even more deeply than it did 15 years ago."

The Broadway iteration is being led by stage and screen star Daniel Dae Kim, who plays a version of Hwang himself. Inspired by real events, the playwright’s fictionalized doppelgänger protests yellow face casting in Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play. 

"Daniel and I have known each other for a long time, but we've never really had a chance to work in this way on a play together," added Hwang. "One of the things about Daniel that's so interesting in this play is that, he's so well known for being not only a great actor, but also an activist, politically engaged, a role model, and this is a play that a lot of the humor comes from undermining my autobiographical character DHH, who is attempting to be an activist and makes all sorts of mistakes and is trying to cover them up.

"So, to have Daniel, who's known as an activist, also dealing with that same tension, I think audiences are going to discover how funny he is, and that's gonna be an amazing experience for them."

"This play does so many incredibly smart things. It starts as this raucus comedy and it ends up this very heartfelt personal play. And to be able to bring people on a theatrical journey like that, to give them the opportunity to laugh and really think and reconsider things," concluded Silverman. "There are so many Easter eggs inside of the play, like what's true, what's not true. It's a real treasure hunt for the audience, which I really love."

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Yellow Face will run through Sunday, November 24, 2024 at the Todd Haimes Theatre.

Photo Credit: Marcus Middleton