Lyric’s ‘Yellow Face’: A cry for racial justice

By Rich Fahey

BOSTON – In the years when I was working nights and couldn’t sleep, I would stumble onto movies about a Chinese-American, Honolulu-based detective named Charlie Chan.

The early movies featured East Asian actors, but they were soon discarded in favor of a series of Caucasian actors playing the role in “yellow face.”

It was a time when Asians – if and when they did appear in movies – were working in laundries or building railroads and speaking in broken English.

So in 1990 when Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (often referred to as DHH) learned one of the few Broadway roles written for an Asian character – the role of the Eurasian pimp The Engineer in “Miss Saigon” – was going to be played by a Welsh actor  named Jonathan Pryce – it set him off on a journey that eventually culminated in “Yellow Face.” He led a protest with Actor’s Equity that led to the show almost being cancelled.

That time and the events that followed is at the heart of Hwang’s 2007 work, now being presented by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston through June 23

 “Yellow Face” is an intriguing, heartfelt, very personal piece by the author of “M. Butterfly,” which made Hwang the first Asian-American playwright to be presented on Broadway and also to win a Tony in 1988.

“Yellow Face’ is being performed by a talented cast and stylishly directed at a brisk pace by Ted Hewlett, who identifies as a mixed-race Asian-American actor and according to program notes also has a very personal, longtime relationship with Hwang’s work.

Michael Hisamoto is DHH, aka David Henry Hwang, a role he is reprising eight years after appearing in the first production of “Yellow Face” I reviewed, by a now-defunct small theater company called The Office of War Information (Bureau of Theatre).   Hisamoto has appeared in regional theaters all over the country and has been part of many excellent local productions such as SpeakEasy Stage’s “Allegiance” and The Huntington’s “Tiger Style.”

Here he rides an emotional roller coaster from the time of his Tony triumph that put him atop the world to the despair of his crash-and-burn in his play “Face Value,” which closed during previews on Broadway; he captures vividly the angst and anguish of the playwright.

Hwang the playwright looks into his mirror and doesn’t like some of what he sees. He depicts himself as craving fame, a lover of pornography, not above making strange calls late at night to women he hardly knows.

Along the way he has taken some license with the truth – how much we won’t reveal here because it is at the very crux of the piece  – in an effort to make his point.

“Yellow Face” is also about the Asian-American version of the American Dream, as exemplified by DHH’s father, HYH, aka Henry Y. Hwang (J.B. Barricklo), a successful banker and unabashed lover of America who always wanted to be Jimmy Stewart. He falls victim to a journalistic version of a modern “Yellow Peril” scare brought about by his ties to Chinese investors and overzealous federal investigators.

Another key character is Marcus G. Dahlman (Alexander Holden), whom Hwang has cast as an Asian character in his 1993 play, “Face Value.” After the brouhaha over Pryce, he is cast in a key role meant for an Asian-American. There’s only one problem” Dahlman isn’t Asian at all — Siberia doesn’t count — but DHH insists in covering up the fact to prevent personal embarrassment.

That then breeds resentment as Dahlman portrays himself as an Asian-American when convenient without taking on the baggage that accompanies being a member of a minority group.

DHH has a lot of fun with one character in particular, portraying a New York Times reporter called Name Withheld on Advice of Counsel (Jupiter Le) even as that reporter’s witch hunt will weigh heavily on both David and Henry.

Megan Reilly’s projections are invaluable, bringing to vivid life the articles – some written by Boston theater critics – that surrounded the controversy around the “Miss Saigon” protest and his play “Face Value,” which flopped on Broadway after a few previews and had a run here in Boston at the Colonial Theatre.

The talented ensemble also includes Jenny S. Lee, who plays a young Jane Krakowski and a host of other parts, and Mei MacQuarrie, who portrays Leah Anne Cho, an Asian-American actress who makes what DHH considers the ultimate betrayal, and several other parts.  

“Yellow Face” isn’t a perfect play. DHH has a lot to say, and at times he is all over the place and appears to be firing randomly at his targets.

As a playwright Hwang has taken considerable license – as is his right – in the crafting of his story. Those decisions are at the crux of what the play is all about and won’t be revealed here.

Times are changing, albeit slowly, in the years since “Yellow Face” was written. Stereotyping and bias have not been eliminated in the theater world, but non-traditional casting has provided more opportunities for minority actors and actresses, and more and more Asian-American playwrights are finding their voices and being heard in new works such as The Huntington’s recent “The Heart Sellers.”

David Henry Hwang and many other Asian-Americans in the theater world still find themselves longing for a time when Asian-Americans wouldn’t have to closely and jealously guard each opportunity because, finally, there would be a world in which Bruce Lee would actually beat out David Carradine for the lead in “Kung Fu.”

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston production of “Yellow Face.” Written by David Henry Hwang. Directed by Ted Hewlett. Scenic design: Szu-Feng Chen. Lighting design: Baron E. High. Costume design: Mikayla Reid. Sound design: Arshan Gailus. Projections design: Megan Reilly. At the Lyric Stage Company of Boston through June 23. Lyricstage.com.