Francis Jue as DHH in David Henry Hwang’s “Soft Power” at the Ahmanson Theater in 2018.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” In a single line from the final song of “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda nails the cultural struggle of our age.
The battles of #OscarsSoWhite, #MeToo, Black Lives Matter and cancel culture are part of the escalating war over the American narrative. The conflict isn’t only about who tells the story but also how it is being told. What are the assumptions of the storyteller? Whose experience is being prioritized? And, most important, which audience is being addressed?
In the last week, I’ve been thinking about the immigrant workers in Martyna Majok’s plays, the house cleaners, caregivers and sweatshop drones of “Ironbound,” “Cost of Living” and “Queens.” And I’ve been haunted by what happened to playwright David Henry Hwang, who included in his book for “Soft Power” (the musical he wrote with Jeanine Tesori that had its premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in 2018) his experience of being stabbed while carrying groceries near his Brooklyn home.