In the Spotlight
Soft Power, Signature Theatre
Showing Aug 6 – Sep 15
www.sigtheatre.org
In late 2015, playwright and librettist David Henry Hwang was walking home from a grocery store in Brooklyn when a stranger leapt out and plunged a knife into his neck. Little did Hwang know at the time that this horrific incident would provide the inspiration for Soft Power, one of his most celebrated musicals-within-a-play and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist in 2020.
Signature Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard, who is also the co-founder of NYC’s Heartbeat Opera, explains why he felt a particular affinity for this profound piece of theater. “I saw Soft Power back in 2019 at The Public Theater in New York and really admired it. I’m Chinese American so I have a very personal connection to some of the questions in the show and some of David’s family’s experience really mirrors mine.” Think of Soft Power as The King and I, but reflected in a funhouse mirror, so that truth and reality are recognizable but weirdly distorted. The premise: DHH, a playwright (notice the similarities to David Henry Hwang) is attempting to translate a Chinese movie for American audiences, but is encountering several unexpected difficulties. After a vicious knife attack, he is plunged into a feverish hallucination where America stands on the precipice of a critical presidential election, Hilary Clinton is a superhero, and rose-colored glasses are a transformational fashion accessory.