YELLOW FACE To Be Presented This Spring Mānoa Valley Theatre
David Henry Hwang's satirical memoir runs at the Honolulu theater, directed by Brandon Miyagi.
Mānoa Valley Theatre continues its 2026 season with Yellow Face May 14-24, 2026. The lines between truth and fiction blur with hilarious and moving results in David Henry Hwang's unreliable memoir, recently on Broadway starring Daniel Dae Kim.
Asian American playwright DHH, fresh off his Tony Award win for M. Butterfly, leads a protest against the casting of Jonathan Pryce as the Eurasian pimp in the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon, condemning the practice as "yellowface." His position soon comes back to haunt him when he mistakes a Caucasian actor, Marcus G. Dahlman, for mixed race, and casts him in the lead Asian role of his own Broadway-bound comedy, Face Value. When DHH discovers the truth of Marcus' ethnicity, he tries to conceal his blunder to protect his reputation as an Asian American role model, by passing the actor off as a "Siberian Jew." Meanwhile, DHH's father, Henry Y. Hwang, an immigrant who loves the American Dream and Frank Sinatra, finds himself ensnared in the same web of late-1990's anti-Chinese paranoia that also leads to the "Donorgate" scandal and the arrest of Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee. As he clings to his old multicultural rhetoric, this new racist witch hunt forces DHH to confront the complex and ever-changing role that "face" plays in American life today.
The cast includes Reyn Afaga as DHH (David Henry Hwang), Sam Bui as HYH (Henry Y. Hwang), Elizabeth Ung as Leah Ann Cho and others, Brandon Caban as Announcer/NWOAOC, Nicholas Gianforti as Marcus Gee, David Tang as Rodney Hatamiya and others, Anastacia Narrajos as Jane Krakowski and others, and Angeline Roselani Han as Carla Chang and others. The production team includes Director – Reiko Ho, Assistant to the Director – Erin O'Hara, Stage Manager – Aly Sutton, Set Designer/Scenic Artist – Willie Sabel. Lighting Designer/Master Electrician – Janine Myers, Co-Master Electrician – Chris Gouveia, Sound Designer –Sarah Velasco, Costume Designer – Amber Lehua Baker, and Props Designer – Kelly Belle.
Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. There will be a special Saturday matinee will be held on May 23rd. All performances take place at Mānoa Valley Theatre, 2833 East Manoa Road. Doors open 30 minutes prior to each performance. The play is presented in two acts with one intermission. No outside food or drink permitted.
Tickets range from $25 to $47 and are available by phone at (808) 988-6131 or online at manoavalleytheatre.com.
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