AAPI Conference
David Henry Hwang is one of the most important playwrights writing in America today, with works that have led dialogue around anti-Asian portrayal, often taking canonical operas and musicals and deconstructing them with a new message. In “M. Butterfly,” he took on Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly,” with “Soft Power,” he re-invented “The King and I,” and he famously wrote a new book for the 1961 musical “Flower Drum Song,” significantly re-working the plot. He also wrote the book for “Aida,” and explored his own experiences writing a play about casting in “Miss Saigon” in “Yellow Face.”
This week, Hwang will be here in Minneapolis for the AAPI Generations Conference, hosted by Theater Mu. He’ll be part of a panel with actor Amy Hill, playwright Philip Kan Gotanda, and Mu’s co-founder Rick Shiomi, moderated by Josephine Lee.