david henry hwang's yellow face

David Henry Hwang's new play Yellow Face recently opened at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and runs through July 1st. It sounds pretty intriguing, a satire with a real-life twist: David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face Opens in Los Angeles May 20

Although he does not appear in the play, Hwang (M. Butterfly) has written himself into his "wild satire," which begins with his backstage realization (at a Broadway flop - likely inspired by 1993's Face Value) that "a white actor had been unknowingly cast in the role of an Asian, which is especially embarrassing for Hwang, who had led the Asian-American protest when a Welsh actor was cast as a Eurasian in the 1991 Broadway opening of Miss Saigon." The work explores "racial identity versus cultural identity, issues of artistic and journalistic integrity and the very nature of reality."

The play sounds like it juggles a wide range of issues and ideas with an intelligent sense of humor. It's been getting some pretty good reviews from all over, including the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Los Angeles CityBeat and Variety. I hope I get to see it at some point...