If “Yellow Face” is a lopsided work that eventually turns didactic and accusatory, it is often entertaining and always critical-minded.
Be careful not to confuse David Henry Hwang, the prominent Asian-American playwright and librettist whose works include “M. Butterfly” and “Yellow Face,” with David Henry Hwang, the prominent Asian-American playwright and librettist who wrote “M. Butterfly” and is also the main character of “Yellow Face,” Hwang’s loopy and loosely-autobiographical meta-comedy, which is now receiving its Broadway premiere in a Roundabout Theatre Company production starring Daniel Dae Kim as an exaggerated inversion of Hwang.
“Yellow Face,” which was first seen Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2007, begins with “DHH” winning the 1988 Tony Award for “M. Butterfly” and then falling head-first into the 1990 protests against a certain prominent Caucasian actor playing a lead character of Asian ancestry in the original Broadway production of “Miss Saigon” (i.e. playing the role in “yellow face”). That ends with Hwang’s defeat when Actors’ Equity Association caved following industry pressure and the threat of canceling the entire production.
As in real life, the “Miss Saigon” incident inspires DHH to write “Face Value,” a farce of mistaken racial identity about a musical that uses “yellow face” casting, which shuttered in previews on Broadway. However, “Yellow Face” becomes a farce of its own with the addition of Marcus (Ryan Eggold), a Jewish, Caucasian male who DHH mistakenly believes is of mixed-Asian ancestry and hires to play the lead role in “Face Value.” After Marcus is dismissed from the cast, he presents himself as Asian and is even cast as the King of Siam in a touring production of “The King and I.”
The far less buoyant second half of the play examines how Marcus, DHH, and DHH’s fervently patriotic father Henry (Francis Jue) confront “Chinagate,” a mid-1990s controversy over whether China improperly gave money to the Clinton administration, leading to congressional investigations and flagrant racial prejudice.
Considering the timeliness of the play’s themes (including the ethics of misrepresenting one’s racial identity out of personal preference and the influx of anti-immigrant political hysteria), it was a fine programming choice for the Roundabout.
Leigh Silverman (who also directed the play’s original production) provides a lean, sleek, and zippy staging anchored by strong performances from the seven-member ensemble, including Kim (who is sharp and charming while playing up DHH as an ego-sensitive fool who grows along the journey), Eggold (who emanates a warm, gentle presence as Marcus), and Jue (who can be pricelessly hilarious in conveying his Henry’s corny excitement and delivering oddball comments).
Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., roundabouttheatre.org.
