Dramatists Guild Foundation has announced that acclaimed, Award-winning playwrights David Henry Hwang and James Ijames join the Board of Directors to help shape and guide the organization’s mission to support theater writers at all stages of their careers.
“On the stage, David and James write stunning and impactful stories that stay with you long after you leave the theater. Off the stage, they work to shape a better future for those looking to tell their stories. We are thrilled and deeply honored to have their voices on our leadership team,” DGF’s Executive Director Rachel Routh said.
David Henry Hwang’s stage works include the plays M. Butterfly, Chinglish, Yellow Face, Golden Child, The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, as well as the musicals Aida (reconceived revival launched 2023 in Europe), Soft Power, Flower Drum Song and Disney’s Tarzan. Called America’s most-produced living opera librettist by Opera News, he has written thirteen libretti, including five with composer Philip Glass. His screenplays include M. Butterfly and he is penning an Anna May Wong biopic to star actress Gemma Chan. Hwang co-wrote the Gold Record “Solo” with the late pop music icon Prince and was a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series The Affair from 2015-2019. He is currently show running and creating A New Television series, Billion Dollar Whale. A professor at Columbia University and recent Chair of the American Theatre Wing, Hwang is a Tony Award winner and three-time nominee, a Grammy Award winner and two-time nominee, a three-time OBIE Award winner, and a three-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2018 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021; his star was unveiled on the Lucille Lortel Playwrights Sidewalk in 2022.