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| Daniel Dae Kim and Ryan Eggold in Yellow Face |
As debates about identity and representation abound in the entertainment industry, Yellow Face, David Henry Hwang's 17-year-old play centered on those subjects, is getting its Broadway premiere courtesy of the Roundabout Theatre Company, with a pair of TV stars leading the cast. Semi-autobiographical and broadly funny, it touches on topics that seem even more timely today, although some of its explorations are only skin deep.
Hwang even writes himself into the play. Daniel Dae Kim (of Lost fame) stars as a semi-fictious version of the playwright — who got himself embroiled in one of Broadway biggest brouhahas of the 1990s: the casting of white actor Jonathan Pryce as a Eurasian character in the Broadway musical Miss Saigon. Hwang, who had recently made his own Broadway breakthrough, winning the Best Play Tony Award for M. Butterfly in 1988, was one of the artists who publicly spoke out against producer Cameron Mackintosh's decision to have Pryce play the role he'd originated in London, and what unfolds over Yellow Face's one-hour-45-minute run time is an exploration of racial identity and the American dream in a country that's anything but color-blind.
Kim narrates a tale that begins as farce but develops into something deeper. In the wake of the Miss Saigon saga, "David" writes a play and accidentally casts a white actor, Marcus, played by former New Amsterdam lead Ryan Eggold, to play an Asian character.
As David tries to cover up, and then extricate himself from, this dicey situation, we're introduced to his father, Henry (Francis Jue, reprising the role he originated in the 2007 production), a banker who emigrated from China and appears to be the embodiment of the American dream, until a congressional investigation tries to cast doubt on his loyalty to the U.S.
Director Leigh Silverman, who also helmed the Off Broadway production, adeptly blends the play's humorous moments with its more serious intent, using a diverse ensemble that crosses races and genders to play their parts. Hwang's exploration of how racial identity can still play a role in who is considered an American today remains a potent topic for discussion, and drama.
