World premiere of David Henry Hwang musical to lead Ahmanson's 2017-18 season / February 23, 2017 by David Hwang

The Humans,” the Stephen Karam one-act that won four Tony Awards last year including best play, and “Soft Power,” a world premiere David Henry Hwang that work takes the form of a Chinese musical about present-day America, lead the 2017-18 Ahmanson Theatre lineup to be announced Thursday by Centre Theatre Group.

The company commissioned Tony winner Hwang (“Chinglish,” “M. Butterfly”) to create “Soft Power” for the current 50th anniversary season of the Mark Taper Forum. But in the announcement expected from artistic director Michael Ritchie on Thursday, Center Theatre Group will move the production to the larger Ahmanson. Jeanine Tesori, the Tony-winning composer of “Fun Home” (now playing at the Ahmanson) and “Caroline, or Change,” will join the creative team for “Soft Power,” which starts as a contemporary play and time-shifts into a musical 100 years in the future. The production is set to open in May 2018.

Find out more at the L.A. Times.

Find out more at Playbill.com

Casting announced for European premiere of Chinglish / February 23, 2017 by David Hwang

Windson Liong, Candy Ma and Gyuri Sarossy

Casting has been announced for David Henry Hwang's Chinglish, which receives its European premiere at the Park Theatre in March.

Gyuri Sarossy (The Absence of War, Headlong) and Candy Ma (Project New Earth) will lead the cast alongside Lobo Chan, Duncan Harte, Siu-see Hung, Minhee Yeo and Windson Liong.

Find out more at What's On Stage

Dream of the Red Chamber to be broadcast on the radio, March 5th / February 16, 2017 by David Hwang

The San Francisco Opera and Bay Area classical radio station KDFC continue their monthly broadcasts of performances captured during SF Opera's Fall 2016 Season, including the world premiere of Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang 's Dream of the Red Chamber. All performances were recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House and feature the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Ian Robertson, Chorus Director). Each SF Opera performance is broadcast on Classical KDFC at 8 p.m. on the first Sunday of every month and hosted by radio announcer Dianne Nicolini. The broadcasts are also available for streaming on demand at kdfc.com for four weeks after the initial airdate.

Find our more at the the Bay Area Reporter.

Everyman Theatre to open 2017-18 season with 'M. Butterfly' / February 7, 2017 by David Hwang

"M. Butterfly" playwright David Henry Hwang. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) — "M. Butterfly" playwright David Henry Hwang. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

In an unusual move, Everyman Theatre has announced one of the works on its 2017-2018 lineup — David Henry Hwang's Tony Award-winning "M. Butterfly," which will launch the season in September. The remainder of the season will be unveiled in the spring.

It's turning out to be the autumn of "M. Butterfly."

The 1988 play will also get a Broadway revival opening in late October, starring Clive Owen and directed by Julie Taymor. It will mark her return to Broadway after being pushed out as director of "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" in 2011.

Read more at The Baltimore Sun or at Broadway World.

Chinese-American Comedy Makes Its NZ Debut in Wellington / February 2, 2017 by David Hwang

In March, Red Scare Theatre Company will stage the New Zealand premiere of David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face. Cassandra Tse will direct the show, having recently returned from an internship at Signature Theatre in New York City where Hwang is a resident playwright.

When Tse first picked up Yellow Face she “couldn’t believe how funny it was, how intelligent and nuanced its politics were.” Her experience with Asian theatre in New Zealand is that it was usually “very serious, focused almost exclusively on tradition, mythology and ancient culture, and completely unrelatable to someone like me, a fourth-generation Chinese-Pākeha New Zealander who has never been to China.” Yellow Face was as a complete counterpoint for her; its ability to be “contemporary, witty, and not above poking fun at itself” meant that it was vital to bring this work to New Zealand.

Read the whole article at Scoop.

Julie Taymor to Direct Clive Owen in ‘M. Butterfly’ / January 30, 2017 by David Hwang

The actor Clive Owen and the director Julie Taymor.Credit: From left: Damon Winter/The New York Times; John Carucci/Associated PressCourtesy The New York Times — The actor Clive Owen and the director Julie Taymor.
Credit: From left: Damon Winter/The New York Times; John Carucci/Associated Press
Courtesy The New York Times

“M. Butterfly,” the gender-bending play about a French diplomat who has a lengthy affair with a Chinese opera singer, will be revived on Broadway this fall with Clive Owen starring and Julie Taymor directing.

The drama, inspired by a true story, won the Tony Award for best new play in 1988, when it starred John Lithgow and B. D. Wong (who won a Tony). The playwright David Henry Hwang is making significant revisions to the script for the revival, incorporating recent discoveries about the relationship between Bernard Boursicot, who was an embassy worker, and Shi Pei Pu, a man whom Mr. Boursicot had believed for years to be a woman. The two were convicted of espionage in 1986. They were pardoned a year later.

Hong Kong Arts Festival’s Dream of the Red Chamber opera accentuates the love story at its heart / January 18, 2017 by David Hwang

Bao Yu (tenor Yijie Shi) and Dai Yu (soprano Pureum Jo) in a scene from Dream of the Red Chamber, staged by San Francisco Opera in a co-production with Hong Kong Arts Festival. Photo: Cory Weaver

Dream of the Red Chamber – the popular 18th-century Chinese literary classic written by Cao Xueqin – has been told and retold through so many media and art forms that any trip down this well-trodden path risks banality and predictability.

But that has not stopped the San Francisco Opera from adapting this romantic, political tale, which follows the fortunes of several aristocratic families in Qing dynasty China. For its general director, David Gockley, it’s high time Western audiences get to know this masterpiece. No expense was spared in forming a dream team of artistic collaborators and star singers, or in crafting elaborate sets and costumes.

Los Altos Stage Company Presents YELLOW FACE / January 11, 2017 by David Hwang

Fresh off its production of the Obie Award-winning Circle Mirror Transformation, Los Altos Stage Company lines up another Obie recipient (2008 for playwriting) with David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face. Yellow Face opens January 26 and runs through February 19 at the Bus Barn Theater in Los Altos.

The Brooklyn Hospital Center seeks state grant to expand local award-winning care / December 30, 2016 by David Hwang

From left: The Brooklyn Hospital Center VP John Gupta, Senior VP Katherine Schleider, Senior VP Joan Carney-Clark, CEO Gary Terrinoni, Emergency Department Clinical Chair Dr. Sylvie De Souza, Laurie Cumbo, Walter T. Mosley, Joseph Lentol, Jo Anne Si… — From left: The Brooklyn Hospital Center VP John Gupta, Senior VP Katherine Schleider, Senior VP Joan Carney-Clark, CEO Gary Terrinoni, Emergency Department Clinical Chair Dr. Sylvie De Souza, Laurie Cumbo, Walter T. Mosley, Joseph Lentol, Jo Anne Simon, Chief of Patient Safety and Quality Officer Dr. Vasantha Kondamudi, Chief Nursing Executive Mary Ann Healy-Rodriquez, Dr. Loretta Patton-Greenidge and one-time TBHC patient David Henry Hwang.

“This is a critical time for The Brooklyn Hospital Center,” CEO Gary Terrinoni explained to a panel that included New York state Assemblymembers Joseph Lentol, Walter T. Mosley and Jo Anne Simon, as well as New York City Councilmember Laurie Cumbo and noted screenwriter David Henry Hwang, who had been a patient at TBHC.

INTERVIEW: Randy Reyes on Flower Drum Song, Mu, and More / December 29, 2016 by David Hwang

A scene from Mu Performing Arts’ 2008 production of Flower Drum Song. Photo by Michal Daniel. — *A scene from Mu Performing Arts’ 2008 production of* Flower Drum Song. Photo by Michal Daniel.

"You’re doing Flower Drum Song with the 2002 book by David Henry Hwang, which bears very little resemblance to the original besides the score and character names. What makes this version of the musical so attractive?

In this version of FDS, David Henry Hwang explores the tension that immigrant communities have between holding on to your cultural identity and assimilating to American culture and how that tension plays out between the generations. This is explored from the perspective of art and entertainment. The father is holding onto his Chinese Opera roots while the son wants to run a western-style nightclub."

Read the full interview at Twin City Arts

How a Real Act of Violence Hit Home in ‘The Affair’ Season 3, Episode 3 / December 4, 2016 by David Hwang

The writer of Sunday night’s episode, David Henry Hwang, was stabbed—almost fatally—in the neck, just like Noah. The terror of the character carried an all-too-real charge.

DHH writes: THE AFFAIR: Noah Solloway and Me / November 27, 2016 by David Hwang

"About a year ago, I was stabbed in the neck by an unknown assailant, who severed my vertebral artery. If the police ever catch the culprit in what appears to be a random attack, they intend to charge him or her with attempted murder. That night, I had been headed home to watch an episode of the TV series THE AFFAIR which I co-wrote. Needless to say, I didn’t end up getting to see the show."

David Henry Hwang contributes to ‘Every 28 Hours’ festival / November 3, 2016 by David Hwang

A previous production of “Every 28 Hours,” performed at Trinity Repertory Company in Rhode Island. Photo by Erin X. Smithers, courtesy The Boston Globe

In ‘Every 28 Hours’ festival, playwrights explore racial tensions in one-minute bursts.

Among the dozens of playwrights represented are Greenidge, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Kristoffer Diaz, Neil LaBute, Lynn Nottage, David Henry Hwang, Idris Goodwin, and Robert Schenkkan. The plays capture the perspectives of black youth confronted with police bias; the suffering and fears of black mothers; the hopes and frustrations of protesters on the front line; and the historical perspective of racial injustice. There’s even a short about a police officer having to make a split-second decision between life and death. For the Boston edition, Theater Offensive is contributing five additional gay and lesbian-themed plays.

Chinglish comes to London / November 3, 2016 by David Hwang

The European Premiere of Chinglish by David Henry Hwang will run at the Park Theatre in London, from 22 March to 22 April 2017. The production will be directed by Andrew Keates.

New Play by David Henry Hwang Set for Theatre for One / November 1, 2016 by David Hwang

A new play by David Henry Hwang is set for the latest edition of Christine Jones' Theatre For One.(photo  © David Gordon) — A new play by David Henry Hwang is set for the latest edition of Christine Jones' Theatre For One.
(photo © David Gordon)

Nine short plays by the resident dramatists of Signature Theatre will be included in the latest edition of Theatre for One, titled In This Moment. Directed by Christine Jones, Theatre for One will be presented for free November 2-21 in the lobby at the Pershing Square Signature Center.

Dream of the Red Chamber opens at the San Francisco Opera / September 9, 2016 by David Hwang

Yijie Shi, center, during “Dream of the Red Chamber,” at the San Francisco Opera. Credit Jason Henry for The New York Times

From The Guardian - Dream of the Red Chamber: a Chinese epic bursts into song

From The New York Times - An American Opera Company Adapts China’s ‘War and Peace’

From The San Francisco Examiner - Chinese epic gets grand opera treatment

From the San Francisco Chronicle - ‘Dream’ opening for S.F. Opera

Firescape Theater to Present Revival of David Henry Hwang's YELLOW FACE / September 2, 2016 by David Hwang

On Friday September 23rd at 8pm, San Francisco's Firescape Theatre will be opening a production of David Henry Hwang'shilarious and award-winning show, Yellow Face.

Remembering Gene Wilder / September 1, 2016 by David Hwang

David Henry Hwang reflects on his time working with Gene Wilder in a guest post on Angry Asian Man.

"It is generally known that the lead roles in the play for which I'm best known, M. Butterfly, were originated by two amazing actors, John Lithgow and B.D. Wong. They blessed my work with their iconic performances on Broadway in 1988. However, my play might have had quite a different trajectory. Originally cast in the Lithgow role was another legendary actor, whose death was announced earlier today: Gene Wilder."

Read the whole post at AngryAsianMan.com

How ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ became an opera / September 1, 2016 by David Hwang

For a writer who has done everything from mining an operatic masterpiece ( his 1988 Tony Award-winning drama “M. Butterfly”) to refashioning a problematic Broadway musical (“Flower Drum Song”) to devising the cross-cultural linguistic tangle of “Chinglish,” an offer to write the libretto for a “Dream of the Red Chamber” opera would seem too good to pass up.

Read more at The San Fransisco Chronicle

David Henry Hwang Named Chair of the American Theater Wing / August 30, 2016 by David Hwang

Playwright David Henry Hwang will succeed costume designer William Ivey Long as the chair of the American Theater Wing, the not-for-profit theater development organization that founded the Tony Awards.