Play Club is like a book club, but for plays! Whether you are familiar with the art of reading plays, or looking to expand your appreciation for dramatic literature, this book club is an opportunity to read plays you have been meaning to explore or have never considered reading before. Learn about new works, discover new playwrights, and make friends!
This group will read one playscript from the Library for the Performing Arts circulating collection every month, and then come together to discuss the work. We will read one scene from the play together and discuss the text in a book club discussion format.
This Play Club meeting will be online, but keep an eye out for future meetings in person. This program is intended for adult patrons.
Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang - Monday, May 20, 2024
The lines between truth and fiction blur with hilarious and moving results in David Henry Hwang’s unreliable memoir. In the play, Asian-American playwright DHH, after 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.
Yellow Face is an Obie Award-winning and Pulitzer finalist play. David Henry Hwang’s other plays include M. Butterfly, Chinglish, Yellow Face, Golden Child, The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB. M. Butterfly was revived on Broadway in 2017. Yellow Face will be revived on Broadway in Fall 2024, starring Daniel Dae Kim.
We have a few copies of the play at the Library for the Performing Arts, but if you are looking for additional copies, the Drama Book Shop has graciously set aside copies of the play at a discounted price of 10% off for Play Club attendees. (While supplies last.) Please visit the Drama Book Shop to purchase your copy.
Photo credit: Hoon Lee and Noah Bean in a scene from The Public Theater production of the play Yellow Face, photo by Michal Daniel, 2007.
