From Our Friends at Roundabout: An Interview with Yellow Face Playwright David Henry Hwang by David Hwang

Roundabout Theatre Company interviewed Yellow Face playwright David Henry Hwang as part of their Upstage Playgoer’s Guide which offers behind-the-scenes content about their productions. This includes interviews with artists; playwright biographies; stories about the historical, social, and artistic context of the production; discussion questions and more.

Teaching Artist Leah Reddy spoke with playwright David Henry Hwang about his work on Yellow Face.

Leah Reddy: What is your theatre origin story?

David Henry Hwang: For the most part, I didn’t start writing plays and seriously get involved with theatre until I was an undergraduate. Prior to that I’d been a violinist. So, I’d played in pit orchestras for high school musicals, and I was always curious about it.

If you go back a little further, there’s a company in Los Angeles called East West Players, which is now the nation’s oldest Asian American theatre.

When [East West Players was] founded, I believe in 1965, they did an operetta. And my mother was the pianist for the production. I was about eight and I could either have chosen to be babysat by my aunt or hang out at rehearsal. So, I went to rehearsals, and I don’t remember that much to be honest, but I do think in retrospect that it’s interesting that at a young age I saw people who looked like me being actors and directors and in positions of artistic administration.

And maybe that made it more possible when I got to college and started thinking that I wanted to try to write plays.

LR:  You use imagery and theatrical styles from Asian theatre in a fair number of your works. How did that influence your understanding of the playwriting art form, and do you see any influences of that in Yellow Face?

DHH: My first play to be produced in New York was written when I was an undergraduate. It’s called FOB. We did it in my dorm, and then 14 months later it opened at the Public Theater.

The play was a comedy about growing up Chinese American in Southern California. But it was set against a mythological backdrop where there were figures from Chinese and Chinese American mythology.

I borrowed this technique from the author Maxine Hong Kingston whose book, The Woman Warrior, had come out recently. And so, when it came around to staging the [play], at the Public, we started incorporating Chinese theatre forms to tell these mythological stories.

At the time, I really didn’t know anything about Chinese opera. Mako, who was directing, cast an actor named John Lone, who would eventually go on to play the title role in Bertolucci’s movie The Last Emperor. John had been brought up in Cantonese Opera, so he had a lot of knowledge, and I learned from him.

Then I wrote a second play, The Dance in the Railroad, which also ended up at the Public, specifically for John and another dancer-actor named Tzi Ma who now is everybody’s Asian dad on television or in movies. That also attempted to incorporate Chinese opera forms.

I continued to work with these techniques through M. Butterfly and other plays. I think when it comes to Yellow Face, I was purposely trying to get away from that because I felt like my use of Asian stagecraft was maybe a little exotic, and it might be interesting to try to do a play where I didn’t incorporate any of those techniques. You could argue that the structure and the meta and the upfront theatricalism in Yellow Face has a relationship to Asian theatre forms the same way that it has a relationship to say Brecht, who was also very influenced by these same forms.

Read more at PBS

Tony Awards 2025 nominees by David Hwang

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

George Clooney — Good Night, And Good Luck

Cole Escola — Oh, Mary!

Jon Michael Hill — Purpose

Daniel Dae Kim — Yellow Face

Harry Lennix — Purpose

Louis McCartney — Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Best Revival of a Play

Eureka Day — Author: Jonathan Spector

Romeo + Juliet 

Thornton Wilder's Our Town 

Yellow Face — Author: David Henry Hwang 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play 

Glenn Davis — Purpose

Gabriel Ebert — John Proctor Is The Villain

Francis Jue — Yellow Face

Bob Odenkirk — Glengarry Glen Ross

Conrad Ricamora — Oh, Mary!

Read more at Daily Mail

Tonys: Activist Jose Antonio Vargas on the Urgency of Best Play Revival Nominee ‘Yellow Face’ by David Hwang

Daniel Dae Kim and Ryan Eggold in 'Yellow Face' on Broadway.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist argues that David Henry Hwang's play makes one think about "who belongs in America and who gets to define who is American, or American enough, for whom."

In a recent viral video, a middle school bully is heard asking: “Where did that little ching chong go?”

The bully’s target is a five-year-old son of Chinese immigrants, seen and heard in the video trying to hide and asking to be saved.

Yes, kids can say nasty or mean things all the time, words and phrases they learn and pick up from somewhere, but this felt different. As I watched the video, I kept thinking, this kid is a mere “Yellowface” to the bully.

In Hollywood terms, Yellowface is to Asian people, particularly of East Asian descent, what Blackface is to Black people: an offensive practice of performance and mimicry. Examples abound, in varying degrees, from Jonathan Pryce, a white Welsh actor, wearing prosthetics to play a Eurasian character in the musical Miss Saigon, to the white British actor Tilda Swinton, who in the Marvel movie Doctor Strange was cast as The Ancient One, a character in the comic books as an elderly Asian man.

Read more at The Hollywood Reporter

David Henry Hwang to Receive 2025 Impact Award From Playwrights Foundation by David Hwang

The award will be presented at Playwrights Foundation’s Constellations 47th Birthday Benefit in San Francisco at the Verdi Club on Monday, July 21, 2025.

Playwrights Foundation, the West Coast’s premier launchpad for exceptional new plays and playwrights, will honor Tony and Pulitzer Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (Yellow Face, M. Butterfly) with the 2025 Impact Award in recognition of his theatrical achievements and profound influence on current and rising generations of writers.

The organization’s 2025 Launch Award will be given to Dan Wolf, a recent alum of the organization’s Resident Playwrights Program and a multi-disciplinary theatermaker changing the future through his internationally recognized historical remembrance work with young artists.

The awards will be presented at Playwrights Foundation’s Constellations 47th Birthday Benefit in San Francisco at the Verdi Club on Monday, July 21, 2025 with memorable presentations from each of our honorees.

Read more at Broadway World

TARZAN – The Stage Musical is coming exclusively to Melbourne by David Hwang

TARZAN – The Stage Musical brings Disney’s epic animated film to life on stage in a high-flying action adventure, complete with aerial choreography and unforgettable music to the soundtrack of Phil Collins — including the Academy Award-winning “You’ll Be in My Heart,” “Son of Man,” “Two Worlds,” and all the hits from the iconic film.

Tarzan struggles to find where he truly belongs, torn between the animal kingdom and the human world. With book by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, at its core TARZAN is a story of identity, love, and the universal quest for connection.

Green Room Award Winning Producer, James Terry Collective has announced its production of TARZAN – The Stage Musical, a new Australian staging playing exclusive to Melbourne audiences, at The National Theatre, St Kilda.

Read more at Aussietheatre.com

Disney’s Tarzan The Musical is swinging into Melbourne this August by David Hwang

Tarzan The Musical comes to Melbourne

Tarzan The Stage Musical brings Disney's animated film to life at The National Theatre.

Green Room Award-winning producer James Terry Collective has announced its production of Tarzan The Stage Musical, a new Australian staging playing exclusively to Melbourne audiences. Tarzan The Stage Musical features music by Phil Collins, including the Academy Award-winning You’ll Be in My Heart, Son of Man, Two Worlds and other songs from the iconic animated film.

The production brings Disney’s epic story to life on stage with aerial choreography and high-flying action adventure elements. The musical follows Tarzan as he struggles to find where he truly belongs, torn between the animal kingdom and the human world.

TARZAN THE STAGE MUSICAL

  • When: August 2025

  • Where: The National Theatre, St Kilda

  • Producer: James Terry Collective. Music: Phil Collins

  • Book: David Henry Hwang (Tony Award-winning playwright)

  • Presale: Opens 10 June for waitlist members

Read more at Beat.com

High School Athletes Romance Series 'Forever'; Tony-Nominated 'Yellowface'; Ron Chernow on Mark Twain; The Bronx Museum of the Arts by David Hwang

The play "Yellowface" from playwright David Henry Hwang has earned a Tony nomination for Best Revival of a Play, and earned star Daniel Dae Kim a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play. Hwang and Kim discuss the show, which follows a playwright who accidentally casts a white actor as an Asian character in his new play. A recording of "Yellowface" is now available to stream on PBS as part of their Great Performances series.

Read more at WNYC

Tony nominees 'Maybe Happy Ending' and 'Yellow Face' champion Asian artists on Broadway by David Hwang

The Best Musical and Best Play Revival contenders, respectively, showcase Asian talent on and off stage and wrestle with Asian theatre's past and its future.

After 78 years of the Tony Awards, Daniel Dae Kim is the first Asian actor to be nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Performance in a Play. Should he win, for playing "DHH" in the fall 2024 revival of David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face, he will only be the 19th person of Asian descent to win a Tony Award in history.

As Hwang expresses in his work (alongside Yellow Face, which premiered off Broadway in 2007, he is also best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning M. Butterfly), the past is never really past. Amid cuts to National Endowment of the Arts grants and diversity programs across industries, the evolving theatre landscape Hwang investigates still suggests progress when it comes to inclusion, even as the terrain threatens to become more unstable.

Read more at New York Theatre Guide

Photos: Lea Salonga, David Henry Hwang, & More Attend TAAF Heritage Month Summit by David Hwang

The second day of The Asian American Foundation’s (TAAF) annual Heritage Month Summit continued to bring together Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) trailblazers, leaders, and advocates, for a full day of dynamic programming in celebration of the organization’s fourth anniversary and AAPI Heritage Month.

2025 Tony Nominee Interview with Daniel Dae Kim of YELLOW FACE by David Hwang

Tony nominee Daniel Dae Kim sits down with Paul Wontorek to talk about his powerful return to Broadway in David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face. In this exclusive interview, Kim opens up about what drew him to the role, portraying a version of the iconic playwright, and why the play’s shape-shifting style and themes still resonate today. Known to millions for his work on Lost and Hawaii Five-0, Kim shares why the stage is where his career began, how it feels to return to his theater roots, and his hopes for future roles—including a dream of playing Henry V. He also discusses the importance of visibility and representation on Broadway and what the Tony nomination means to him. A must-watch for fans of Kim, Hwang, and modern theater.

See more at Youtube!

Oregon Shakespeare Festival announces 2026 season. Here’s what they’re staging down in Ashland. by David Hwang

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland has another stellar season planned in 2026. (Courtesy Photo: OSF)

Never been to Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival? Wanna go? The famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival has announced its 2026 season, and you can now plan to go see an event. Here is information from OSF (osfashland.org): Each one of next year’s 10 productions represents a caliber of art that stays with you long after you leave the theatre, offering unbridled moments of connection, catharsis, and joy. They invite you to sit with loved ones and strangers alike, and be reminded of what becomes possible when we come together to share in the power of live theatre. In the words of Artistic Director Tim Bond, “We come to theatre to experience hope — to see the resilience of the human spirit play out before our very eyes, and to witness what happens when we meet the moment.”

“Yellow Face”

By David Henry Hwang Directed by May Adrales

Aug. 5-Oct. 23, 2026 Angus Bowmer Theatre

Read more at Portland Tribune

World Premiere Recording AN AMERICAN SOLDIER Announced by American Composers Orchestra by David Hwang

The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) today released the world premiere recording of composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang’s moving and timely opera, An American Soldier, conducted by Carolyn Kuan, digitally via Platoon. This world premiere recording lands just before Memorial Day in the United States, May 26, which is also Danny Chen’s birthday. Chen would have been thirty-three years old this year. 

An American Soldier was composed by Huang Ruo.

Described as "taut and haunting" by The Wall Street Journal and "clearheaded" and "touching" by The New York Times, the opera is based on the true story of Chinese-American Army Pvt. Danny Chen, who was found dead in a guard tower at his base in Afghanistan in 2011, and the ensuing courts-martial of Chen’s fellow soldiers. The New York premiere of An American Soldier in May 2024 was co-produced by Perelman Performing Arts Center | PAC NYC, Boston Lyric Opera, and American Composers Orchestra, and co-commissioned by PAC NYC and Boston Lyric Opera.

Lauded for his “distinctive style” (The New York Times), composer Huang Ruo’s vibrant and inventive musical voice draws equal inspiration from Chinese ancient and folk music, the Western avant-garde, experimental music, noise, natural and processed sound, rock, and jazz. Best known for his plays, including M. Butterfly and Yellow Face, Tony, Obie, and GRAMMY-winner David Henry Hwangwrote the libretto for An American Soldier. Hwang is a prolific opera librettist, having written several operas with composers such as Philip Glass, Bright Sheng, and Unsuk Chin. An American Soldier was David Henry Hwang's first collaboration with Huang Ruo. 

Read more at Broadway World

Photos: Lea Salonga, David Henry Hwang, & More Attend TAAF Heritage Month Summit by David Hwang

Shoba Narayan, Shanelle Kaul, Diane Paulus, Lea Salonga, David Henry Hwang, and Franics Jue

The second day of The Asian American Foundation’s (TAAF) annual Heritage Month Summit continued to bring together Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) trailblazers, leaders, and advocates, for a full day of dynamic programming in celebration of the organization’s fourth anniversary and AAPI Heritage Month.

Firesides and panels featured Lea Salonga, Darren Criss, David Henry Hwang, Francis Jue, Shoba Narayan, Diane Paulus, Shoba Narayan and more. The Summit closed with a surprise performance of “A Whole New World” by Criss and Narayan. Take a look at photos from the day below. 

TAAF serves the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community by promoting safety, fostering belonging, and advancing prosperity. Launched in 2021 in response to the rise in anti-Asian hate and to address the long-standing underinvestment in AANHPI communities, TAAF invests in initiatives to combat anti-Asian hate, integrate AANHPI studies into school curricula, elevate authentic AANHPI storytelling, and expand resources and representation for our communities. Through high-impact initiatives, events, and investments in national and local nonprofits, TAAF aims to create a permanent and irrevocable sense of belonging for millions of AANHPIs in the United States.

Read more at Broadway World

Watch Yellow Face on PBS by David Hwang

Enjoy Tony winner David Henry Hwang’s comedy starring Daniel Dae Kim as an Asian American playwright who protests “yellowface” casting in the musical “Miss Saigon” only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play.

Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang’s comedy from Roundabout Theatre Company stars Daniel Dae Kim (“Lost,” “Hawaii Five-0”) as an Asian American playwright who protests yellowface casting in the blockbuster musical “Miss Saigon,” only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play. The repercussions resonate in this farce about the complexities of race. Filmed in November 2024 and directed by Leigh Silverman (“Violet,” “Suffs”), “Yellow Face” is an “is-he-or-isn’t-he” comedy of identity, show business and autobiography.

Watch Yellow Face at PBS

Enjoy Broadway at home with these new TV and album releases by David Hwang

Recent and upcoming releases in TV and audio recording formats of four multi-award-nominated Broadway shows of the 2024-25 season are making performances of two plays available for viewing at home and the scores and songs of two musicals accessible for listening, if you weren’t able to make it to the theater to see them live, or if you loved them and can’t wait to revisit them again and again.

Yellow Face – A sidesplitting and thought-provoking Broadway revival of the 2007 quasi-autobiographical comedy by three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony winner David Henry Hwang (the first Asian American playwright to receive the award) starred Daniel Dae Kim as an Asian American playwright who protests “yellowface” casting in the musical Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play and then suffer the repercussions. The critically acclaimed show, for which Francis Jue has already received an Outer Critics Circle Award for his featured role as the playwright’s father, ran for a limited engagement with Roundabout Theatre Company through Sunday, November 24, 2024, at the Todd Haimes Theatre. A live stage performance was filmed for PBS that month, made its broadcast debut on Friday, May 16, and is available now through June 30, for free streaming on the PBS website and app, so be sure to see this hilarious and timely look at racial identity, artistic freedom, political correctness, and media frenzy while you still can.

Read more at DC Arts

The Dramatists Guild Honors Clarence Coo ’10 with Horton Foote Award by David Hwang

Playwriting alum Clarence Coo ’10 was presented with the Horton Foote Award at the Dramatists Guild’s annual awards ceremony on April 29, 2025, at the Broadway restaurant Green Fig.

"It was such an honor and a delight to receive this award the same evening David Henry Hwang received a Lifetime Achievement Award. David was my thesis mentor when I was a playwriting student at [the School of the Arts],” Coo said in a statement.

The Horton Foote Award recognizes dramatists whose work “seeks to plumb the ineffable nature of being human,” according to the Dramatists Guild. This year’s Horton Foote Award was given to Coo and playwright C. A. Johnson. Last year’s recipient was Sanaz Toossi, whose play English was just nominated for the 2025 Tony Award for Best Play.

Read more at Columbia.edu

Hwang’s ‘Yellow Face’ Earns Tony Nominations by David Hwang

NEW YORK — The nominations for the 2025 Tony Awards, including three for “Yellow Face,” were announced on May 1.

The awards show, hosted by Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”), will be held at Radio City Music Hall on June 8 at 8 p.m. ET and will air on CBS and Paramount+.

David Henry Hwang’s “Yellow Face” was nominated for Best Revival of a Play along with “Eureka Day,” “Romeo + Juliet,” and “Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.”

Francis Jue was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play along with Glenn Davis for “Purpose,” Gabriel Ebert for “John Proctor Is the Villain,” Bob Odenkirk for “Glengarry Glenn Ross,” and Conrad Ricamora for “Oh, Mary!”

Daniel Dae Kim was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play along with George Clooney for “Good Night and Good Luck,” Cole Escola for “Oh, Mary!,” Jon Michael Hill for “Purpose,” Henry Lennix for “Purpose,” and Louis McCartney for “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.”

In Hwang’s semiautobiographical play, DHH (Kim), an Asian American playwright, protests yellowface casting in the blockbuster musical “Miss Saigon,” only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play. The repercussions resonate in this farce about the complexities of race. Jue plays DHH’s father, HYH.

Read more at Rafu Shimpo

Yellow Face Airs the PBS Ethnicity Game by David Hwang

David Henry Hwang’s identity crisis 

David Henry Hwang’s play Yellow Face exemplifies the diversity-inclusion-equity (DIE) games that no doubt will continue at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) even after federal funding is withdrawn.

Hwang, the Chinese-American playwright of M Butterfly — the stone-faced, gender-bending update of Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly — has cemented his reputation for political correctness by specializing in racial (ethnic) discourse. Yellow Face debuted in 2007, was revived to much acclaim in 2024, and recently received several Tony Award nominations. PBS is now airing a recorded performance of the show.

The national exhibition of Yellow Face confirms Hwang’s grasp of progressive dramaturgy — a skill akin to writing successful grant proposals — in which personal experience is prized as political testament. The semi-autobiographical play recounts DHH’s own struggle session when he attacked the Broadway musical blockbuster Miss Saigon in 1990 for casting a white actor (Jonathan Pryce) as its Eurasian lead character.

Hwang’s vainglorious campaign underscores his later experience producing his next play, Face Value, and facing the death of his father, Henry Yuan Hwang (HYH), a patriotic immigrant and founder of Far East National Bank. Yellow Face suits PBS through its acronyms and coded blackout sketches that generate notions about ethnic identity. It’s Hwang’s satire of demoralized patriotism. His disillusionment perpetuates DIE ideology in one convenient package.

Read more at the National Review

Go Inside an Industry Screening of the Tony-Nominated Play Yellow Face by David Hwang

David Henry Hwang, Leigh Silverman, Francis Jue, and Daniel Dae Kim (Ghina Fawaz)

David Henry Hwang's play, starring Tony nominees Daniel Dae Kim and Francis Jue, is streaming now on PBS.

While Tony Award voters have to go to the theatre to see this season's Tony-nominated shows, there is one production they can watch from their homes: Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang—which is currently up for three Tonys, including Best Revival of a Play. The play, which closed last fall after a limited engagement, has been filmed by PBS and can be streamed until June 30 on PBS.org. For the industry folks who would rather see it in a theatre, Hwang and the show's stars have been hosting a number of screenings of the Yellow Face film.

At a May 18 screening at the Whitby Hotel, which also featured popcorn in Yellow Face containers, Hwang introduced the film by noting the play's historical significance: "I'm very grateful to the [Tony] nominators and everybody, because this is the first play in Broadway history in which East Asians are being centered as Americans." Indeed, musicals and plays set in Asia are fairly common on Broadway, but works about Asians living in America aren't as prevalent (though Hwang previously worked on a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song, set in San Francisco).

Read more at Playbill

Daniel Dae Kim making history at the Tony Awards and pushing for Asian representation on Broadway by David Hwang

The first monologue Daniel Dae Kim ever performed was by David Henry Hwang.

He had to do one for his college summer program at the National Theater Institute in Connecticut. Kim chose a scene from “FOB," Hwang's play about the assimilation struggles of a Chinese American. So, it's fitting that 35 years later Hwang — the first Asian American to win the Tony Award for best play — would be the one to bring Kim into the Tony spotlight.

Known for TV series such as “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0,” Kim, 56, is the first Asian nominee in the category of best leading actor in a play in the Tonys’ 78-year history for his work in a Broadway revival of Hwang’s “Yellow Face.”

“I can imagine a lot of things, but I did not imagine this scenario with David,” Kim said. “That I would be in a play with him, that we would both be nominated for Tony Awards and we would be able to call each other friends.”

In the semi-autobiographical show, which ran last fall at the Roundabout Theatre Company, Kim played a satirical version of Hwang. The show also scored nods for best play revival and best performance by a featured actor in a play for first-time nominee Francis Jue, an original 2007 cast member.

Read more at San Francisco Chronicle