The Theatre of David Henry Hwang by Esther Kim Lee (review)

It is David Henry Hwang's plays that Esther Kim Lee focuses on in greatest detail in this six-chapter book, despite Hwang's growing career as a writer for other media. Her sequential investigation of his career and plays by production date is paired with a brief chronology near the book's end. In this chronicle Lee succinctly details his key life events, premieres, and major revivals. A synopsis, production history, examination of the themes broached, and links to other plays in Hwang's oeuvre are offered as part of Lee's close reading of each theatrical work investigated. The "Critical Companions" Bloomsbury series this book joins is notable for ending with essays in which scholars examine in detail a particular play's reception, development, or other fascinating aspect. As such, Lee curates in the last chapter an impressive collection of three essays by Asian American scholars Josephine Lee, Dan Bacalzo, and Daphne Lei. Lee forgoes a single chapter summarizing the playwright's biography perhaps because of his plays' frequent biographical connections. Instead, throughout her investigation Lee remarks on the veracity and theatrical effects of the biographical details Hwang does include and examine. This method reinforces Lee's view that the face—masked or illuminated in varying degrees—is Hwang's most repeated and meaningful metaphor. She explains that this leitmotif enables Hwang to explore his own identity and Asian American identities within a medium that not long ago only offered simple character stereotypes. I believe Lee's survey—which assumes the reader knows nothing about Asian American theatre or history—can pique a reader's interest in Hwang's offerings to both.

Hwang's landmark success, M. Butterfly (1988), is the only play to receive a single dedicated chapter in the book. Found in many of the major drama anthologies read in universities, M. Butterfly introduces many students to Hwang and Asian American theatre. With Lee celebrating this play and offering a full dramaturgical investigation of it in chapter 3, M. Butterfly is bookended by less well-known, but compelling plays nevertheless. For instance, The Sound of a Voice (1983) profiled in chapter 2 is inspired by Japanese ghost folklore. This one-act features an older unnamed man and lonely woman so suspicious of the other's intentions that they cannot accept the comfort and love the other seems to offer. Lee's insightful description of how sound functions within the play advances her contention that the structure, syncopation, and use of improvisation within it can all be traced to Hwang's practice as a jazz violinist. Later, Lee outlines multiple possible readings of Woman's suicide at the end.

Highlighting the many possible interpretations of Hwang's often ambiguous endings is a strength of Lee's analysis. Her study also contains a targeted explanation of the socio-political and cultural context in which the plays were written. This rich detail furthers the reader's understanding of even his most well-known play. This context allows readers to go beyond surface questions regarding, for instance, the protagonist's true sexual orientation or gender identity in M. Butterfly to see how Hwang—albeit with mixed critical admiration—challenges audiences to question stereotypes of race, gender, and sexuality in novel ways.

By Hwang's own admission, his writing up to M. Butterfly went through "assimilationist" and then "isolationist-nationalist" phases, first turning away from and later becoming intrigued by and eager to explore Asian cultures and identities (3). Although he was motivated to write for and work with other Asian Americans, Lee notes that becoming a complete separatist, as the term "isolationist-nationalist" might imply, was not his aim. Rather, claiming Asian Americans' contributions to, and differences within, the broader American history and culture was his objective (22). With M. Butterfly exploring stereotypes of East vs. West and Yellow Face examining the social construction of race, it is fitting that Lee terms the next phase "multiculturalist." Lee does...