Tony-Winning M. BUTTERFLY Playwright David Henry Hwang Slashed in Neck; 'Doing Fine'

The New York Daily News reports that Tony award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, best known for his 1988 play M. BUTTERFLY was slashed in the neck in an apparent random attack near his home in Brooklyn.

According to police, the writer was making his way home on S. Oxford Ave. near Lafayette Ave. in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn when an unknown attacker slashed his neck from behind at approximately 8:50 p.m. on Sunday, November 29th. The attacker remains at large.

The 57-year-old writer told police that he sensed pain before realizing that he was bleeding. He walked himself to nearby Brooklyn Hospital where he was treated and later released.

Hwang tells the Daily News, "Thanks to the excellent work of the doctors at Brooklyn Hospital and Mount Sinai, I'm now home and expected to make a full recovery."

The playwright is currently a professor at Columbia University. His works mostly explore his Asian-American heritage. His most well-known work, M. BUTTERFLY, earned him a Pulitzer Prize nomination. It follows the true story of a French diplomat who has an affair with a woman who performed in the Beijing Opera. His 2011 play CHINGLISH was written in both English and Mandarin, with accompanying subtitles.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski

Photo: Kevin Thomas Garcia