Many people are familiar with the play M. Butterfly. But do they know that its writer, David Henry Hwang, the first Asian-American to win a Tony for Best Play (yes, for M. Butterfly), has “Philippine connections?”
David arrived Tuesday night from New York (where he lives with his wife, actress Kathryn Layn, and their children Noah David and Eva Veanne) to grace the gala premiere of his other play, Golden Child, tonight at 8 at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (formerly CCP Little Theater), ushering in the Tanghalang Pilipino’s 22nd Theater Season this month.
Directed by Loy Arcenas (and starring Art Acuna, Irma Adlawan-Marasigan, Liesl Batucan, Tina Chilip, Tess Jamias and Leo Rialp, with the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors’ Company), Golden Child is about Eng Tien Bin, a businessman who has spent years doing business in the Philippines and his return to China in the early 20th century. Having been exposed to Christianity and western ways, he sets about unbinding his traditional Chinese household. His efforts lead to a game of one-upmanship among his three wives, leading to unintended consequences.
Completing the season are Mga Gerilya ng Powell Street (a novel by Benjamin Pimentel Jr. about Filipino World War II veterans who availed of American citizenship, written by Rody Vera and directed by Chris Millado) and Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? (Eddie Romero’s landmark film transformed into a modern sarswela from a libretto by Palanca award-winning playwright/historian Jose Victo Torres with music by Lutgardo Labad, directed by Dennis Marasigan).
Golden Child premiered off-Broadway at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, received a 1997 OBIE Award for Playwriting, and moved to Broadway where it earned (in 1998) three Tony nominations (including for Best Play). David attended Stanford University and the Yale School of Drama, and holds an honorary degree from Columbia College and The American Conservatory Theater.
One of his upcoming works is the Bruce Lee musical.
Funfare had a free-wheeling chat with David who’s turning 51 on Aug. 11. Excerpts:
How was the CCP able to get Golden Child as opening feature of its 22nd Theater Season this month?
“I guess it happened through my aunt, Doreen (Yu, editor of Starweek, The STAR’s Sunday magazine — RFL). Tita Doreen saw the play in Seattle and she wanted to bring the play to the Philippines. I’m glad that it’s happening because I have connections in the Philippines; I have relatives here and I heard that 400 of them have been invited to tonight’s opening. Hahahaha! M. Butterfly was staged in Manila but I’m not sure if my other plays were. This is some kind of a homecoming for me.”
Golden Child is set partly in the Philippines. Can you talk about your Philippine connection? You know so much about the Philippines.
“Because my mother’s family comes from here. I was born and grew up in Los Angeles but when I was a kid, I used to visit my grandparents who lived in Cebu. One summer, my grandmother fell ill and I came back to visit her. She was the one who knew about our family history and she told me all about it. I used her stories as material for a novel that I wrote when I was 10.”
You mean the Golden Child started as a novel back then?
“In a way, yes. When I wrote the play, I went back to the novel as an inspiration. Many things in Golden Child are fictional but they are still based on facts.”
Did you make further research about Chinese in the Philippines?
“A lot of the play is about a Chinese businessman who works in the Philippines but most of the play takes place in Fujian, China. So I read more about the customs of the Chinese in that era. Yes, I have been to Fujian to visit but not really for research.”
You were born and grew up in L.A. Have you remained Asian at heart?
“Actually, when I was a kid I wasn’t thinking much about being Chinese or being Asian; I felt that I was an American kid and my being Chinese was a minor detail. Only when I got to college and I started writing plays that I was drawing material from my subconscious and that’s when I began digging into and exploring more of my being Chinese.”
Was growing up Chinese in an American environment similar to growing up Chinese in a Filipino environment? In the early years, Chinese in the Philippines were kind of “discriminated” against (being called intsik bejo and other names).
“I think Chinese in America were more looked down on when I was a kid, but not these days. I think that made Chinese kids feel, hmmmm, a bit uncomfortable.”
Did that make you feel like an outsider?
“A bit. I think I felt kind of an insider and an outsider at the same time. You know, you feel like you are not really a part of the culture, as if you’re outside looking in. In retrospect, it wasn’t a bad environment for a writer. Early on, I never knew that I would be a writer. It put some kind of a positive pressure on you to prove that you can be as good as if not better than them. In school, the students were primarily Latinos and Caucasians, with some Asians, but we blended very well.”
As you said, most of your works have been culled from your “subconscious,” some kind of a continual coming to terms with your past.
“At this point in my life, I work on a number of different things as Asian. But when I go back to writing my plays, which are very personal, I tend to go back to my past. Things Chinese continue to interest me. At the moment, I’m interested in the US-China relations. I think it’s fascinating. It’s amazing that the image of China has greatly changed during my lifetime. When I was a kid, China was sort of poor and the Chinese were looked down on as menial laborers. Now, it’s the opposite. There’s so much talent coming from China.”
Did your being the first Asian-American to win a Tony Best Play award put some kind of pressure on you, you know, to come up to people’s high expectations of you?
“Oh yeah, it did. I think anything has advantages and disadvantages. The success of M. Butterfly was enjoyable for me. The disadvantage is that, you’re right, people expect too much from you. Most writers are associated with one work even if they have done several others. In my case, it’s M. Butterfly. It’s okay. I like it.”
Aside from writing, you’re also good at playing jazz violin, right?
“I used to, but I wasn’t really very good at it. In my early 20s, I used to play in a band. That was before I started writing plays. The band was called Bamboo.”
Of course, you know that Filipino talents are now recognized in the international scene.
“Oh yes, of course. I’ve worked with Lea Salonga in Flower Drum Song and that was a great experience. There was also Jose Lana who was in Flower Drum Song and in Spelling Bee on Broadway. And Alec Mapa who was in M. Butterfly. (Alec co-stars with Fil-Am comedian Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler in You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, now showing across the Philippines. — RFL) There are many talented Filipinos and other Asians in musical theater in the US.”
Did you have a hand in choosing the cast and the director of Golden Child at the CCP?
“I’ve known Loy from way back. He was the set designer of Golden Child in Seattle. I learned from Tita Doreen that Loy also did my big flop here, Face Value, which I did after M. Butterfly.”
Religion seems to be at the core of the conflicts in your plays...in your life. Why is it so?
“I grew up with a lot of religion. There’s a lot of Christianity in my family. I have many uncles, both here and in the States, who are pastors. There was a time when I was very hostile toward Christianity; maybe because I was into my ‘rebellious’ period at the time. By the time I was writing Golden Child, I felt that I had a balanced feel of Christianity. Now, I go to a liberal Christian church in Los Angeles.”
In Golden Child, you mention an “assimilation dilemma.” Did you go through that kind of dilemma. How were you able to resolve it?
“I don’t know if I have ever resolved it. I feel like through the writing of my plays, I began to explore what it meant to be Chinese and to be an Asian, and understand that part of me, and I felt better. As I grew older, it meant different things to me. As a kid, I just wanted to be a regular American but in my 20s, my whole identity was to be Asian-American. I realized that being an Asian is part of who I am. It’s not the full story either but it’s an integral part of the story.”
Are you now at peace with yourself, the people around you and the world you are in?
“I feel that now I understand most everything. I’m a father to two children and that, I think, is a very complicated thing to be. But I don’t really think there’s an answer to the question of identity. The important thing about identity is to continue asking at different points in your life.”
Okay, you’re turning 51 on Aug. 11. You’re a Leo in the Western horoscope. What are you in Chinese horoscope?
“I’m a Rooster. I’m a bit of both. The Lion roars and the Rooster crows. Nice combination, isn’t it?”
(Note: Schedule of performances at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino Theater are Aug. 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 and 30, 8 p.m.; and Aug. 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and 31, 3 p.m. Ticket prices are P600, regular; and P300, student, with discounts for senior citizens and groups. For inquiries, call 832-3704, 891-9999 or 832-3661.)
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph or at entphilstar@yahoo.com)