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Yellow Face

By: David Henry Hwang
Narrated by: Daniel Dae Kim (CK), Ashley Park, Wendell Pierce, Benedict Wong, Noah Bean, Dick Cavett, Margaret Cho, Ronan Farrow, Fritz Friedman, Joel De La Fuente, Margaret Fung, Gish Jen, Francis Jue, full cast, Jason Biggs
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Summary

"It’s a...kind of unreliable memoir.” That’s how David Henry Hwang all-too-accurately labeled his bracing and hilarious 2007 play Yellow Face, which recounted a pivotal moment in his cultural awareness. The story, which mixes fact with fiction, starts in 1990, when Hwang—the first Asian American playwright to win a Tony—is among the highest profile artists to protest the casting of Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce in an Asian role in the musical Miss Saigon. But when Hwang begins work on a new play based on the controversy (or does he?), he inadvertently hires a white actor for a key Asian role. To protect his reputation as an Asian-American role model, Hwang invents a fake background for his star.

The resulting debacle spreads much further than he could foresee, and forces him to re-evaluate just how much of a champion for his culture he truly is. Hwang pulls no punches, naming names, and not letting himself off the hook.

Winner of an Obie and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and directed by Tony nominee Leigh Silverman, Yellow Face is as timely as ever, wrestling with issues of cultural appropriation, complicity, and artistic freedom. It’s brought to life in this audio-only revival by a stunning all-star cast (many playing themselves) led by Daniel Dae Kim.

©2007 Fresh Off the Boat Productions, Inc. (P)2024 AO Media, LLC
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Editorial Review

Giving new meaning to “theatre for the mind”
While I haven't had the privilege of seeing it performed, I'd venture to say that the brilliance of David Henry Hwang's Obie-winning and Pulitzer-nominated play Yellow Face is elevated by the removal of the visuals. In this acerbically funny semi-autobiographical comedy we hear but don't see the character of the playwright wrestle his way through the shifting motivations of an entertainment landscape that seems to constantly rewrite the expectations of Asians in American culture. The inspired casting of Daniel Dae Kim, Jason Biggs, Benedict Wong, Wendell Pierce and Ashley Park delivers an immersive space for personal reckoning, leaving the listener to grapple with their own internal assumptions that exist in their minds' eyes about race, colour and the complexities of living in America and in a body you can't change. —Emily C., Audible Editor

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Was really funny

Was really funny loved the musical theatre references to Miss Saigon and Cameron Mackentosh was really funny

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Hits the nail

Honestly did not like the start jokes felt a bit pushy. But gets better and it really strikes a chord with me as I am a Bengali British man and a lot of what he covers I can really relate to

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Thought-provoking

A clever study of the issues surrounding identity. Gives you plenty to think about but is also very entertaining. Well produced and performed.

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