The New York premiere of the opera "An American Soldier," based on the story of Pvt. Danny Chen, opens at the Perelman Performing Arts Center on Sunday.
Chen was born and raised in Manhattan’s Chinatown and joined the Army in 2011. His body was discovered with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on a U.S. base in Afghanistan later that year. A military investigation revealed that the 19 year-old had been subjected to brutal hazing and racist abuse by his fellow soldiers. A series of courts martial followed.
But "An American Soldier" isn't a simple retelling of the news. Playwright David Henry Hwang, best known for "M. Butterfly," felt the story was so unambiguous that it would not make for a good theater piece.