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Reflect and Connect References
In a Washington Post interview, playwright David Henry Hwang said:
[Yellow Face is] a memoir—a kind of unreliable memoir. The main character is named after me and based on me. There are some things in it that are true and there are some things in it that aren’t true. There is this kind of postmodern idea of playing with your own identity in the construct of yourself as the author.
Hwang’s play is a twist on documentary theatre, a genre that uses pre-existing material (such as letters, newspaper articles, or speeches) to craft stories about real people, places, and events. He riffs on the form by nestling in a fictional narrative amongst the factual events he’s relating. As a figure in these events as well as the narrator, the character of DHH is undoubtedly an unreliable narrator—yet the inclusion of newspaper headlines, other real people, and direct quotes can lull the audience into a false sense of truthfulness. Hwang bends the genre to tell the story as he sees it and how he wants you to see it. By doing so, he illustrates points about race, cultural appropriation, and how society's racism and biases manifest in the theatre industry. Beyond the world of theatre, Yellow Face recounts actual events at the intersection of race and politics, particularly the wave of anti-Asian sentiment of the late 1990’s.
Below you will find a guide to the factual elements referenced in the play. Armed with the facts, it’s up to you to tease out the real from the imagined and ultimately decide...does it even matter?
The Facts
1996 Campaign Finance Controversy was a widely reported on series of events across several years in American history. It encompassed the popular debate, comptroller investigation, and Senate hearings related to alleged inappropriate connections between Chinese officials and Chinese Americans who made donations to Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign.
Bill Clinton is a Democratic politician and the 42nd president of the United States. The play references controversy around donations made to his re-election campaign.
Bob Bennett is a former Republican Senator from Utah who served from 1993 to 2011. Bennett was a popular and reliably conservative senator for most of his tenure, earning high ratings from conservative activist groups such as the NRA Political Victory Fund, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the American Conservative Union. He was a member of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs when it conducted its hearings on improper activities in the 1996 election. In the play, Bennett negatively stereotypes Asian Americans.
Fred Thompson is a former senator from Tennessee and former chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs from 1997 to 2002. During his tenure the committee conducted its hearings on improper activities in the 1996 election. He was known as a consistent, vocal critic of China and hesitant of international relations with the nation.
Henry Y. Hwang is the founder of the first Asian American owned bank, Far East National Bank and the father of playwright David Henry Hwang’s. In his obituary in The New York Times, it states that he “arrived in the United States at 21, speaking virtually no English. He later owned a laundry, became a certified public accountant and began one of the first accounting firms in Southern California owned by a Chinese immigrant.” He appears in the play in connection not just due to his relation to the playwright but also his connection to the campaign finance controversy.
Jack Kingston is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who served from 1993 to 2015. From 2003-2006 he was the Vice Chair to the House Republican Conference. He appears in the play as one of many talking heads related to the 1996 election controversy.
NWOAC is a composite character in Yellow Face based on journalists covering the campaign finance controversy. NWOAC stands for Name Withheld on Advice of Counsel.
Peter Domenici is a former Republican Senator who represented New Mexico from 1972 to 2008. He chaired the Committee on the Budget from January–June 2001.
Richard Shelby is a former Republican Senator who represented Alabama from 1987 to 2023. Prior to his role in the Senate, he served in the House of Representatives from 1979 to 1987. He chaired the Select Committee on Intelligence from January–June 2001.
Tom DeLay is a former House majority leader. DeLay earned the nickname "The Hammer" for his enforcement of party discipline in close votes and his reputation for wreaking political vengeance on opponents. Like the other Congressmen referenced in the play, a fictional version of DeLay is quoted disparaging Asian Americans.
Wen Ho Lee is an Asian American scientist who was the target of racial scapegoating and profiling by the US Department of Energy. Dr. Lee was accused of providing nuclear secrets to the government of China, only later to have been found innocent. His case sparked a national conversation of racial profiling by US federal law enforcement agencies. Mentioned in the play as the subject of one of NWOAC’s reports.
References
Bahadur, Gaiutra. “Unmaking Asian Exceptionalism.” Boston Review. 4 Apr 2023.
“Chronology: Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.” The New York Times.
Qiang, Vivian. “21 Years after the Arrest of Scientist Wen Ho Lee.” Medium: Advancing Justice - AAJC. 15 Feb 2022.
“Banking Committee Democrats Urge Chairman Shelby to Clear Nominations Backlog.” United States Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 22 Feb. 2016.
Clymer, Adam. “Robert Bennett, Former Senator from Utah and Tea Party Casualty, Dies at 82.” The New York Times. 5 May 2016.
“Domenici, Pete Vichi.” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Gladstone, Mark. “Nothing Sinister in Calls to Huang Activist Says.” Los Angeles Times. 19 Jul 1997.
Harrow, Robert. “Ex-Banker Admits Guilt in Scheme.” Washington Post. 17 Feb 2000.
“Jack Kingston.” Ballotpedia.org.
Martin, Douglas. “Henry Y. Hwang Dies at 77; Founded Asian-American Bank.” The New York Times.13 Oct. 2005.
“Shelby, Richard C.” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Published on October 9, 2024.