The Works of David Henry Hwang
Written by Zhiyun ZhaoPhotography by David Henry Hwang is an Asian American playwright. I've been reading his plays recently, and I really like how his works connect the East and the West in fascinating ways. Here is an overview of Hwang's works: Early WorksDavid Henry Hwang's early works mainly focus on the experience of Asian Americans in the United States. For example, his first play, FOB, which was written during his years at Stanford, is about the conflict between a second-generation Asian American, and an exchange student from China, or a "Fresh Off the Boat.” A Dance and the Railroad is based on the Chinese railroad workers' strike in 1867. Besides writing about Chinese American experiences, Hwang also wrote plays like The House of Sleeping Beauties and The Sound of a Voice that were inspired by Japanese culture.
- Butterfly
Butterfly is Hwang's most famous play, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1988. It was inspired by the true story between Bernard Boursicot, a French diplomat and a Peking opera singer Shi Pei Pu. Hwang's play explains how the bias that the West has for the East leads a French diplomat Gillmard to mistake a Chinese opera singer Song liling's gender for twenty years. M. Butterfly has a movie adaptation, and there was also a revival of the play on Broadway last year. Recent WorksAfter the success of M. Butterfly, Hwang wrote plays like Yellow Face and Golden Child96 that keep exploring the stories of Asians and Asian Americans. Besides writing plays, Hwang has also been writing for musical theatre, opera, and film. For example, he recently collaborated with another Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori. They wrote a musical called Soft Power, which is a comedy about a Chinese executive who falls in love with an American leader.