Libretto — OPERAS SOURCE — David Henry Hwang

Dream of the Red Chamber / December 10, 2016 by David Hwang

Libretto by David Henry Hwang and Bright Sheng
Music by Bright Sheng
Based on the book by Cao Xueqin

The company of Dream of the Red Chamber. Photo by Cory Weaver for the San Francisco Opera.

Based on the book by 18th-century Qing Dynasty writer Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber (also known as The Story of the Stone) is one of the four great classical Chinese novels, considered by many to be the pinnacle of Chinese literature. Dream of the Red Chamber was commissioned by San Francisco Opera and premiered there in 2016, directed by Stan Lai, in a coproduction with the Hong Kong Arts Festival, which presented the work in spring 2017, prior to a fall tour of Mainland China.

Yijie Shi and Pureum Jo. Photo by Cory Weaver for the San Francisco Opera. — Yijie Shi and Pureum Jo. Photo by Cory Weaver for the San Francisco Opera.

An American Soldier / December 9, 2016 by David Hwang

On October 3, 2011, Chinese-American Army Pvt. Danny Chen was found dead in a guard tower at his base in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Based on his story, and drawing from the ensuing courts-martial of Chen's fellow soldiers, An American Soldier explores what happens when the very people who are supposed to protect you in a combat zone become your enemy.