David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwangis a Tony Award-winning American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth11 August 1957
CountryUnited States of America
america capitalism china economic free government market oppose rush time
There's something about China and its rush to capitalism that I find confusing. At the same time, we live in an America where capitalists oppose any government interference with free markets, while in China you have a very controlled, state-planned market where economic growth is better than ours.
artistic bigger bring gave hard interested matches nobody road seemed shows silk time work
For a long time, it was hard for me to get my work done in Chicago. Silk Road gave me opportunities to do shows like 'Golden Child' - shows that nobody else seemed interested in. And they bring an artistic integrity to the work that matches anything you'll find at a bigger theatre.
deal examine interact sufficient time
I'm interested in internationalism. It's the new multiculturalism. How we deal with each other isn't sufficient any more. It's about time we examine how we interact with the rest of the world we live in.
stupid time-flies being-stupid
Time flies when you’re being stupid.
prisoner our-time
We are all prisoners of our time and place.
good plays
I think that plays are probably the most personal, because it's just me in charge, but sometimes it's just really - I think that there's honor in being a good artist, and there's honor in being a good 'craftsperson.'
earn takes
Even if you're lucky to have a play on Broadway like 'Chinglish,' you don't necessarily earn enough off it to support the years it takes to get there.
allowed
You aren't allowed to ask at auditions, legally, a person's race.
happiness notion
There is something very unique in American iconography about this notion of the pursuit of happiness.
hardest musicals
With a musical, you kind of have to do a mind-meld with the book-writer, the lyricist, the composer, the director - sometimes the producer. I think that's a reason why musicals are the hardest form.
almost broadway famous
I am almost famous in China, because I have that Broadway cachet.
elected george james jones obama point race until
There was all this talk when Obama got elected about how we were living in a postracial world. But we're not. Until we get to the point where James Earl Jones can play, say, George Washington, race matters. You wouldn't put a white actor in blackface to play Othello. You shouldn't have a white actor in what amounts to yellowface to play Asian.
attracted behind china chinese feels interested liked open ways
My father has always been interested in discarding the past. He's never much liked China or the whole idea behind China or Chinese ways of thinking. He's always been much more attracted to American ways of thinking. He feels Americans are more open - they tell you what they think - and he's very much that way himself.
best composer create everybody job movies production support work
If I do a play, it's my vision, and everybody else is working on the production to support that. If I do an opera, I feel like part of my job is to support that composer, to try and create something that allows the composer to do his or her best work. In movies, it's usually the director.