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SPECIAL FEATURE INDIE FILMS COMMENTARY INTERVIEWS RESOURCES BUSINESS INFO MEDIA INFO
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It's OK to be Wrong and/or It's OK to be Hwang Presentations of idiosyncratic history pageants with a sense of humor and musicality A Creative Soul, Successful Playwright, Screenwriter and Librettist with All the Work He can Handle
ART OF COLLABORATING
US ASIANS: What are the common denominators with your projects (Sound of a Voice, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof & The Voyage) with Philip Glass? In addition, is there a growing creative growth and comfort with each project that you've worked on together? DAVID HENRY HWANG: I think all of our projects are about individuals between worlds (though, actually, most of my pieces are about that!). And, yes, while collaboration with Philip has always been easy and invigorating, there is a growing comfort and trust with each encounter. US ASIANS: Considering that both of you work on a projects ranging from the esoteric margins to the pop-culture in the worlds of Hollywood, the Met, Broadway, BAM and/or regional theater - is there a kindred creative spirit that draws both of you together? DAVID HENRY HWANG: Yes, I think we both resist arbitrary distinctions between "high" and "popular" art. US ASIANS: How strong was the mutual attraction that you had with Philip Glass - pursuit of an East-West or global fusion - that prompted working together? DAVID HENRY HWANG: I think we both subscribe to a global vision of culture, and so it's been easy to establish a collaborative affinity. US ASIANS: Remembering that you were "looking for a kind of East-West fusion ęsthetic that was not coming from America. . . because Chinese artists didn't have enough freedom and hadn't been opened to the West long enough to absorb a lot of influences in a deep way" - how far do you think Asian/Asian American theater has progress since F.O.B. was initially performed?
DAVID HENRY HWANG: APA (Asian Pacific American) theatre has certainly progressed beyond a rather exclusive focus on identity issues, and evolved into the mainstream of, if not commercial, at least regional and not-for-profit American theatre. US ASIANS: Considering that the immigrant tale is still very prevalent in Asian Pacific American films seen in 2005, do you feel that not much has changed with the dynamics of the communities or could it be that the stories of families that have been here for three to five generations have not yet surfaced? If this assessment has some merit, why do you think that the oft-told immigrant tales are continuously being retold? DAVID HENRY HWANG: Statistically, the majority of APAs right now are immigrants. So, although Asians have been in this country for several generations, its not surprising that immigrant and first-generation stories still dominate. US ASIANS: Glass is just as appreciative of Hwang's skills. " He has a veneer of being an ordinary person, and he can fool you - until you actually look at what the guy is doing and thinking and you understand how precocious and brilliant this man is. DAVID HENRY HWANG: That was sweet of him to say!
US ASIANS: What creative focus of Lucia prompted the incorporation of her music collaboration in your productions of M. Butterfly, Golden Child, Sound and Beauty, Dance and the Railroad and F.O.B.? DAVID HENRY HWANG: Mako brought Lucia into FOB, and we clicked creatively, so we've continued to work together on a number of my projects. US ASIANS: Which facet of her minimalist Western influenced-music's fusion with her unique homage to her ancestral Chinese roots provides the audience an aural extension of your theatrical presentations? DAVID HENRY HWANG: Creatively and culturally, Lucia is coming from the same place as me. So it is unsurprising that her music parallels what I'm trying to achieve in my stage plays. US ASIANS: Recognizing that the soul of expressing oneself creative is imbedded within her character, as the result of being the daughter of Lisa Lu and the granddaughter of a great Chinese Opera diva - along with great teachers and friends such as Henry Miller, did that create a 6th sense of how she can integrate her skills within your word pictures? DAVID HENRY HWANG: Yes, absolutely, and her knowledge of Opera (like John Lone's) was a great help and education to me at a time in my creative life when I knew very little about the form. US ASIANS: Recognizing that the soul of expressing oneself creative is imbedded within her character, as the result of being the daughter of Lisa Lu and the granddaughter of a great Chinese Opera diva - along with great teachers and friends such as Henry Miller, did that create a 6th sense of how she can integrate her skills within your word pictures? DAVID HENRY HWANG: Yes, absolutely, and her knowledge of Opera (like John Lone's) was a great help and education to me at a time in my creative life when I knew very little about the form.
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