What was it about?
ReAct Theatre and the Pork Filled Players proudly present the Northwest premiere of YELLOW FACE, the Pulitzer-finalist and Obie-award winning comic “mockumentary” about mistaken racial identity by David Henry Hwang. Casting himself as the protagonist, Hwang recounts his (maybe true, maybe not) hard-hitting attempts to protest yellow face casting in Miss Saigon on Broadway–-and his own accidental casting of a white man as Asian. Mixing real events, real headlines and real people with fictional characters and dramatic license, YELLOW FACE explores and pokes fun at the role of race in modern American society, media, politics and theatre.
Who was in it?
Cast
DHH Moses YimMarcus Gee Lee Osorio*
Ensemble Agastya Kohli
Ensemble Jeremy Behrens
Ensemble Stephanie Kim
Ensemble Henry Vu
Ensemble Julia Beers
(*member Actors’ Equity Association)
Staff and Desginers
Written by David Henry HwangDirected by David Hsieh
Stage Manager Jason Panzer
Sound designer Johanna Melamed
Lighting designer Maggie Lee
Costume designer Jocelyne Fowler
Production design David Hsieh
Rear projectionist Peyton Smith
Scenic artist Katie Hanse
Production intern/ house manager Annie Yoon
Construction crew Gary Barbour, Mandy Bowyer, Melvin Inouye and Seattle Scenic Studios
Producers David Hsieh, Roger Tang
What did people say?
"Hwang, a leading playwright who authored the award-winning drama M. Butterfly
(which is no sacred cow here, either), doesn't pull punches when
lampooning his artistic and ethnic milieu. And he sure doesn't spare
himself from witty mockery...But in the main, Yellow Face is a false and true identity play that keeps you laughing — and leaves you thinking.
Seattle Times
"Presented in its Seattle premiere by ReAct Theatre and the Pork Filled Players, Yellow Face is an often-hilarious lampoon of racial typecasting, American media, the immigrant experience, and the playwright himself. Jeremy Behrens, a member of the ensemble, steals the show by switching roles and accents faster than a speeding dim sum cart. In one memorable scene, he runs the gamut of Southern drawls, playing senators from Alabama, Kansas, Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee."
The Stranger
"Director David Hsieh has a good grip on this material, obviously cares about it in a very personal way, and moves the action along swiftly and clearly, keeping our attention properly on the internal struggle within the playwright. Yellow Face is a well-written, provocative piece of autobiographical journalism and dramatic invention, and here it is given a respectable and admirable production."
Seattle Actor
"Stephanie Kim and Julia Beers also show great range in the variety of girlfriends and other roles they play, and Agastya Kohli acquits himself well as the narrator and in the ensemble.
Regardless of whether all the headlines and quotes are necessary, this is an extraordinarily accessible way to explore race and our personal identities. Hwang bravely makes fun of himself, but redeems himself in the end. The play hits Hwang and us in our political correctness and while it doesn't answer questions, it certainly stirs the pot. Make no mistake: this play is for everyone, not just Asian Americans. Go see it. "
Seattle Gay News
"...it is the ensemble's dedication to Hwang's vision that helps to put the evening over the top. Director David Hsieh's wise decision to use the Pork Filled Players' humorous roots as one of Seattle's longest running sketch groups to accentuate the farce in Yellow Face help to underline the more emotion-laced moments and bring across Hwang's hard-fought observations about what it is like to be an artist of ethnicity on our modern stages."
Seattlest
"Also to note is the excellent production team, featuring talented members from local theatre groups ReAct and Pork Filled Players. The seven of them amazingly pull off a total of 92 characters in the play where none of them feel out of place.
"Simply put, the production is suspenseful, hilarious, and provocative in both its themes and ideas."
Seattle Chinese Times
Seattle Times
"Presented in its Seattle premiere by ReAct Theatre and the Pork Filled Players, Yellow Face is an often-hilarious lampoon of racial typecasting, American media, the immigrant experience, and the playwright himself. Jeremy Behrens, a member of the ensemble, steals the show by switching roles and accents faster than a speeding dim sum cart. In one memorable scene, he runs the gamut of Southern drawls, playing senators from Alabama, Kansas, Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee."
The Stranger
"Director David Hsieh has a good grip on this material, obviously cares about it in a very personal way, and moves the action along swiftly and clearly, keeping our attention properly on the internal struggle within the playwright. Yellow Face is a well-written, provocative piece of autobiographical journalism and dramatic invention, and here it is given a respectable and admirable production."
Seattle Actor
"Stephanie Kim and Julia Beers also show great range in the variety of girlfriends and other roles they play, and Agastya Kohli acquits himself well as the narrator and in the ensemble.
Regardless of whether all the headlines and quotes are necessary, this is an extraordinarily accessible way to explore race and our personal identities. Hwang bravely makes fun of himself, but redeems himself in the end. The play hits Hwang and us in our political correctness and while it doesn't answer questions, it certainly stirs the pot. Make no mistake: this play is for everyone, not just Asian Americans. Go see it. "
Seattle Gay News
"...it is the ensemble's dedication to Hwang's vision that helps to put the evening over the top. Director David Hsieh's wise decision to use the Pork Filled Players' humorous roots as one of Seattle's longest running sketch groups to accentuate the farce in Yellow Face help to underline the more emotion-laced moments and bring across Hwang's hard-fought observations about what it is like to be an artist of ethnicity on our modern stages."
Seattlest
"Also to note is the excellent production team, featuring talented members from local theatre groups ReAct and Pork Filled Players. The seven of them amazingly pull off a total of 92 characters in the play where none of them feel out of place.
"Simply put, the production is suspenseful, hilarious, and provocative in both its themes and ideas."
Seattle Chinese Times