Filtered By: Lifestyle
Lifestyle

David Henry Hwang on Asian-American identity and the lasting impact of ‘M. Butterfly’


Nearly three decades since his Tony Award-winning play "M. Butterfly" was staged in Manila, David Henry Hwang was finally able to see a performance that has come to be known as "legendary."

"I usually don't see productions of 'M. Butterfly' outside New York, but I had to come to this one," Hwang told members of the media during a press lunch on Friday, September 28, at Seda BGC. 

"M. Butterfly" premiered in 1988 on Broadway, shocking the audience with the retelling of the love affair between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu, a Peking opera singer.

Hwang wrote Boursicot as Rene Gallimard, a civil servant who falls in love with the opera singer Song Liling. Gallimard is unaware that in traditional Beijing opera, the female roles are performed by men. 

"RS (Francisco) has this iconic, legendary performance of Song Liling, which even from the States we knew about and heard about... and I didn't get a chance to see it in 1990. So the fact that he was going to do it again and that I would be able to revisit this performance that's become legendary was a great reason to come out for this trip."

He added that he also looks for any excuse to come to the Philippines. Hwang's mother grew up in Manila and his grandparents immigrated from China to Cebu. Hwang would visit them often when he was a young child and he has fond memories of enjoying the city's local delicacies. 

L to R: Actor RS Francisco, playwright David Henry Hwang, and producer Jhett Tolentino.
L to R: Actor RS Francisco, playwright David Henry Hwang, and producer Jhett Tolentino.

Hwang has spent 40 years building a notable portfolio. Although he does not limit himself to writing strictly about the Asian-American experience, Hwang has always been at the forefront of pushing for diversity in storytelling.

Hwang in 2016 became the chair of the American Theatre Wing, the organization that created and sponsors the Tony Awards. He is the first Asian-American to hold the position. 

At the press lunch, Hwang spoke with GMA News Online and other members of the press about his experience as a Chinese-American writer and the legacy of "M. Butterfly."

What's it like revisiting "M. Butterfly" decades later?

As a writer, you kind of go, "I wish I did that better" and I did actually rewrite some of it for the most recent Broadway production... but the thing that I'm proud of is that the themes, the characters, the structure, the bones of this show were relevant 30 years ago and are still relevant today.

Why do you think this story continues to resonate today?

I don't necessarily know that I can analyze why that happened, I just feel grateful for it. But I guess, I lot of the issues that are encompassed in the play — whether it has to do with the complexities of gender or the complexities of the East-West relationship — those have been very resonant over the last three decades.

If anything, we're having more conversations right now about gender fluidity and we're having more conversations about the relations between US and China. I think, fortunately, the play encompasses themes that seem to have become more potent over the last thirty years.

 

How does it feel to see the Asian-American story go from "M. Butterfly" to "Crazy Rich Asians"?

It feels really fantastic. Representation... when you've been denied it most of your life — until you see it, sometimes you don't even realize how much you need it. We still have a long way to go, but there are certain moments when you have these successes, which then drive other projects, which then make the gatekeepers and the Hollywood people, the Broadway people feel "oh, well, maybe we can do stories with Asians."

I think the fact that "Crazy Rich Asians" is probably going to hit $200 million in the domestic box office is one of those moments.

Recently, we saw Fil-Am model Kelsey Merritt face criticism over not looking Filipino or Asian enough. What's your take on this gatekeeping of race?

It's helpful if we have more solidarity and less division between us. Whenever there's not much representation from a particular group and you have one example that steps forward, of course everybody wants that example to represent them. That's just not possible.

If we support the people who do come forward, that means more projects can be made and there will be more diversity. But it doesn't work so much if we start tearing each other down.

What do you think is missing in terms of Asian-American stories in the world of literature?

There is actually a great deal of diversity out there in terms of Asian-American theater and younger Asian writers. The question becomes how to make these stories more visible. 

Off-Broadway and in regional theater, I think there is a variety of Asian-American stories, but how can we get more of these onto Broadway? How do we get more plays on Broadway in general — that's the challenge.

What are you looking forward to as the new chief of the American Theatre Wing?

My goals are to move the needle of diversity and to create more programs and opportunities to have actors of color on Broadway. Even in the "Hamilton" year, it was still... I think 70 percent of the actors in Broadway were white, so we still have a long way to go for Broadway to represent all the people of our country and the world.

Four decades of writing — where do you go from here? How do you want to be remembered?

Ideally, if my country continues to move in a direction where we acknowledge the importance of many different types of people and culture and stories, then I hope I can be remembered as someone who helped to make that possible... who took the baton and passed it on to other people. — GMA News

LOADING CONTENT