On the Red Carpet: At Yellow Face, David Henry Hwang on How He Turned His 'Flop' Into a Hit

In 1993, David Henry Hwang's comedy Face Value came to Broadway. It then abruptly left after just five performances, with critics panning it as "M. Turkey" (a reference to Hwang's previous hit M. Butterfly). In the years since, Hwang has referred to the play as a "flop." So it wasn't lost on Hwang October 1, at the opening of his play Yellow Face at the Todd Haimes Theatre, how far he'd come—especially when critics met Yellow Face with almost unanimous raves.

"In some ways, this is the end of a journey that began in 1993 when the predecessor to this play, Face Value, closed in previews on Broadway," the Tony Award-winning playwright told Playbill on the red carpet of Yellow Face. "So now, many decades later, to be able to open Yellow Face on Broadway just feels like the most amazing journey a show could have."

In Yellow Face, Hwang presents a mockumentary of the creation of Face Value, making himself a character in it to comedic effect. That's because in Yellow Face, the playwright in the story accidentally casts a white actor in an Asian role in his Broadway play. As with any classic farce, hilarity ensues. And with it, a potent examination of race.

"That's kind of the magic trick of the show, is that David has written this play that takes a very serious subject and puts it in a light that makes it accessible and funny and interesting and clever," says actor Kevin Del Aguila, who plays multiple real-life figures of the show of varying races (including Ed Koch and BD Wong). "It's kind of this documentary. It's sort of this autobiographical thing, but it's also a backstage comedy, but it's also a political intrigue, but it's also a love letter to David's father and to theatre in general. It's got all of these things happening, and the fact that it all works together in one play is kind of an amazing thing."

Speaking of a blast from the past, Playbill showed the cast and creators of Yellow Face their old yearbook photos and recorded their responses. See their surprise and delight in the video below.

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Yellow Face isn't a new play. It first premiered in Los Angeles in 2007. Leigh Silverman directed that production, and has returned to direct the Broadway production. For Silverman, who's also directed Hwang's Chinglish and Soft Power, this Broadway run is a vindication that she and Hwang were onto something 17 years ago in the way they were exploring race and representation and who can say what is cultural authenticity.

"I think when we did the original production, it just felt sort of a little niche," she said. "And now it feels like talking about representation on stage is kind of what we all do now—audiences are really well-versed in it." And to her, this production is "a celebration of all the years of collaboration that David and I have had...It feels really exciting, and very special."

Francis Jue was in the 2008 Off-Broadway production of Yellow Face in the same role he's playing now: Hwang's father, Henry Yuan Hwang. To him, revisiting the show has been a joy.

"I have never, ever laughed so much during a rehearsal process as with this show," he enthused. "And returning to this show and sort of in my mind, knowing what the potential could be, and then seeing it realized now is just overwhelming. I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of love coming from the audiences."

And in that audience are many who have never been to the theatre before. For Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Hwang in the show, what's been the most special to him has been seeing all the young Asian Americans in the audience.

"That's so meaningful to me, because the theatre needs to expand its audience, and we need to find younger people that want to come to this to see our shows," he said. "I want them to support, not only the theatre, but shows that have been written by people like David Henry Hwang, that feature Asian performers and address the themes that are so important in our own lives on a daily basis. So all of these things are the ways that we can help inform people about the things that we're going through, the experiences that we've had, but most importantly, to entertain them. And you know, in a world where everything is on our phone and in 30-second clips, it's nice to be reminded that there's a human-to-human interaction that only theatre can provide, and it's special because of that."

Though that's not all. For actor Shannon Tyo (who also plays a variety of people in the show, including producer Cameron Mackintosh), her favorite part of Yellow Face may be many audience members' highlight: "I think, honestly, a big part of [the comedy], besides the writing, is Daniel Dae Kim being such a neurotic, sweaty mess on stage. Which is something we've never seen him do before. So it's really wonderful to watch him just run around and try to, you know, bury his dark secret. It's hilarious."

Below, see photos from the red carpet of Yellow Face, including attendees Kara Young, Vanessa Kai, Cecily Strong, and understudy Olivia Oguma and her bespoke Yellow Face purse.