M. Butterfly author talks about his Phl ties

Did you know that David Henry Hwang, author of the play M. Butterfly, has deep Philippine connection?

David actually talked about it in an exclusive interview with The STAR arranged by David’s aunt Doreen Yu (this paper’s Associate Editor and editor of the Sunday magazine Starweek) in 2008 when David came to grace the gala premiere of his other play, Golden Child, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) as opening of the Tanghalang Pilipino’s 22nd theater season.

The good news is that David is coming to watch M. Butterfly, according to R.S. Francisco who is reprising his role as Song Liling (with French actor Olivier Borten as leading man) 28 years after it was staged here in 1990, and whose Frontrow Entertainment is co-producing the restaging with Tony/Grammy award-winner Jhett Tolentino at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in Bonifacio Global City from Sept. 12 to 30. (For inquiries, call Isha Germentil at 0917-6333834.)

“David said that he would come on the last week of staging,” added R.S. “He told me that he wanted to see it kapag ripe na ripe na daw.”

The first Asian-American to win a Tony for Best Play (yes, for M. Butterfly), David turned 61 on Aug. 11.

“I’m a Leo in the Western Horoscope and a Rooster in the Chinese Horoscope,” said David. “I’m a bit of both. The Lion roars and the Rooster crows. Nice combination, isn’t, it?”

David attended Stanford University and the Yale School of Drama, and holds an honorary degree from Columbia College and The American Conservatory Theater. He and his wife Kathryn Layn have two children, Noah David and Eva Veanne.

Besides David, Jhett said that he and R.S. are also inviting three New York Times critics to watch the play.

Here are relevant excerpts from that 2008 interview with David:

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.”

Did you make further research about the 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.”

Clive Owen and Ji Ng in the recent Broadway restaging of M. Butterfly when

Didn’t 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 if not better than them. In school, the students were primarily Latinos and Caucasians, with some Asians, but we blended very well.”

Did your being the first Asian-American to win a Tony Best Play award put some kind of pressure on you, you know, to rise 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.”

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. — RFL) There are many talented Filipinos and other Asians in musical theater in the US.”

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.”

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.”

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