'Yellow Face' Hwang's Lingering Grudge

David Henry Hwang is far from done with the controversy he spearheaded for the Asian community when Actors' Equity initially opposed casting Jonathan Pryce in a Broadway transfer of Miss Saigon.  The role in question was written as an Asian character, and Pryce did not meet such criteria.  Hwang lost that battle, and was ultimately abandoned by the theatrical community.

Not one to back down, Hwang responded with the ill-fated Face Value, which ran for a mere eight previews before closing on Broadway.  Returning once again to the question of race, stereotypes and discrimination towards Asians, Hwang's latest play, Yellow Face, which is making its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, tackles these issues and more head on, with a bevy of triumphant responses.

Yellow Face often blurs the lines between fact and fiction, with many of Hwang's personal travails making their way into the play, yet never fully emphasizing what is truth.  Even with such ambiguities, the play is a scathing rebuke of minority critics, especially journalists, which get their fair share of ridicule throughout the work.

Obviously meant to resemble the playwright, DHH (Hoon Lee), whose name mimics Hwang's initials, is an Asian-American playwright whose path follows most of Hwang's professional career and personal life.  After penning the Tony Award winning production of M. Butterfly, DHH is asked to lead a fight against Cameron Mackintosh's Miss Saigon.  Sound familiar?

As DHH struggles with a sense of identity, Hwang introduces a colorful cast of characters, including an ethnically ambiguous Marcus (Peter Scanavino), who ends up getting cast in the lead role of DHH's Face Value.  Though Marcus is a fine actor, the trouble lies in his not really being Asian, thus exposing DHH to the possible troubles he once caused for Mackintosh.

Upon discovering the accidental miscasting, for which DHH ironically, or more like ignorantly, took part in, he begins to stretch genealogical truths, placating Marcus' Jewish background into a half-assed Siberian-Asian link.  After rectifying the situation, bringing in B.D. Wong before the show transfers from an out-of-town run to Broadway, Marcus turns into a Gollum for DHH, going on to critical acclaim as, of all things, an Asian actor. 

Another equally interesting character is DHH's father, HYH (Tzi Ma).  Simple names aside, controversy erupts around the "H" clan as a federal investigation implicates them in illegal campaign finance activities, exposing their dirty laundry on the front page of the New York Times.  Even an "unnamed" Times reporter (Tony Torn) gets a turn in Yellow Face.  Of course, said reporter is portrayed as the villain, aren't we all?

Aside from any autobiographical discrepancies, Yellow Face is an important work of theatre.  Walking a fine line between intelligent and satire, the laughs Hwang's play elicits, and there are plenty to go around, only further the serious judgments he is making.  The media is always quick to hide behind their stories while conspicuously pushing racist beliefs, and governmental discrimination of minority peoples, are two such prominent opinions Hwang makes explicitly clear in the play.

Watching Yellow Face, and absorbing its content are two different things, as Leigh Silverman's direction often paints the play in an unserious light, forcing the gang of actors to wear one too many masks as they run through often tiresome impersonations of various characters.  The talented ensemble is certainly able to deliver on Silverman's direction, but nearing the middle of the second act, the constant shifting of personas becomes grating.

Lee (Pacific Overtures, Urinetown) holds the key to the success of Yellow Face's book, easily wearing the shoes of Hwang's struggling guise, finding a perfect medium with his comedic timing and thought provoking seriousness.  Marcus is given a pivotal role in the play, and Scanavino generally delivers a palatable performance.

Tzi Ma's litany of roles provide for most of the laughs, as the actor has a knack for creating uproarious caricatures.  And keeping with a docu-drama feeling, Torn gives a turn as the play's narrator.  Rounding out the cast is a fine cast of characters including Julienne Hanzelka Kim, Kathryn Layng and Lucas Caleb Rooney.

Wooden planks and a giant framed mirror make up most of David Korin's set design, with ample lighting by Donald Holder.  Towards the end of Yellow Face, the mirror, which exposes faces in the Taper's audience, is lifted as DHH possibly finds his long searched for identity.  Myung Hee Cho provides costumes with Darron West's sound design.

Yellow Face, presented by The Center Theatre Group along with The Public Theater in association with East West Players, will continue its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum through July 1.  Tickets range from $42 through $55 and can be purchased online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org or by calling 213-628-2772.

Photos by Craig Schwartz.  (Top) Hoon Lee; (Middle) Peter Scanavino; (Bottom) Julienne Hanzelka Kim, Tzi Ma in foreground and Hoon Lee.
 

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