In Yellow Face, playwright David Henry Hwang exhibits his characteristic flare for structural and emotional mechanics. He incorporates a play-within-a-play, has actors taking multiple roles and mixes real and fictional characters caught up in both real and fictional events.
This is a tight, enjoyable, thought-provoking show. Staged in brisk, clean strokes by director Steve Scott, the skilled ensemble falls easily into a gallery of roles ranging from amusing caricature to nuanced portrait.
Hwang shows up as a character (played by David Rhee), and a big part of what makes the ambivalence fascinating is his willingness to apply it to himself. Sometimes portrayed sympathetically, Hwang is just as often exposed as a damned fool. Steve Scott's production is smart and strong...
Directed by Steve Scott, “Yellow Face” is... provocative, caustically funny and touching. And it certainly raises questions about this country’s ever-shifting relationship with China and the Far East.
[If] you've ever been around debates about racial politics, and, no doubt secretly, found yourself engaging in some kind of Orwellian double-think, then this is your show, whatever the color of your visage.
Yellow Face just may be one of the smartest plays about race currently running in our allegedly post-racial world. But that’s not the main reason it’s worth seeing. No, the reason to see Yellow Face is that Scott has created a show that’s wholly absorbing.
Hwang’s mix of characters creates its own witty comment on color-blind casting: Public figures such as Sen. Fred Thompson and producer Cameron Mackintosh are played by an Asian-American woman (ensemble member Tanya McBride) without our blinking an eye. Scott’s clean, spare staging is paced effectively...
Yellow Face is not a straightforward narrative and it’s not at all politically correct. [It] is delightful entertainment, with a cast of brilliant and disciplined actors. Every moment is a treasure.
[The] thoughtful philosophy and relevance of the topic of racial stereotyping and profiling make Yellow Face well worth the time. Scott's direction and cast [...] give the script a top-drawer reading. Tom Burch's simple but elegant Asian-influenced unit set and Matt Guither's smart costumes of business attire add to the production's sophistication and class.
At face value, this show is about cultural identity. Remove the mask and at the heart of Yellow Face, Playwright Hwang wrote a beautifully complicated and charming tribute to his father.
Director Steve Scott’s fast-paced and documentary style staging makes for a blend of richly funny satire and biting irony that gives the many levels of ‘face’ a unique theatricality [...] The performances are strong and the work is engaging.
There is so much nuance and device at work in this play that the whole thing could easily become a trainwreck, but it’s a testament to the strength of Hwang’s writing, Steve Scott’s assured directing and the multitalented cast—especially the energetic David Rhee as DHH—that it instead turns into one of the finest rides I’ve had in the theater in a long while.
