SRTP Presents YELLOW FACE at Pierce Hall, 6/14 -17

Yellow Face, the nationally-acclaimed play by Tony Award winning playwright David Henry Hwang, makes its Chicago debut at Silk Road Theatre Project (SRTP), produced in association with the Goodman Theatre. Yellow Face, directed by Steve Scott, runs June 14 - July 17, 2011, in Pierce Hall at The Historic Chicago Temple Building, 77 W. Washington St, Chicago. Press opening is Saturday, June 18, 2011, at 4:00 pm. Production support for Yellow Face is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and ComEd.

The cast for Yellow Face includes: Joseph Anthony Foronda*, David Rhee*, Lydia Berger, Tanya McBride, Christopher Meister, Christopher Popio, and Clayton Stamper.
*Member of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

The Design Team includes: Tom Burch (Set), Sarah Hughey (Lighting), Matthew Guither (Costumes), Peter Storms (Sound) Jesse Gaffney (Props), and Neal Ryan Shaw (Dramaturgy). The stage manager is Donald Claxon. Assistant Director is Danny Bernardo.

ABOUT THE PLAY, THE PLAYWRIGHT, & THE DIRECTOR

Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang
A revealing backstage comedy from the Tony Award-winning author of M. Butterfly, this ferociously funny, utterly unreliable memoir chronicles David Henry Hwang's struggle to define racial identity in the mixed-up melting pot of contemporary America. Part fact, part fiction, Yellow Face explores the pitfalls and promise of our "P.C." world.

David Henry Hwang (playwright) is the author of M. Butterfly (1988 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Awards, Pulitzer finalist), Golden Child (1998 Tony nomination, 1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), The Dance and the Railroad (Drama Desk nomination), Family Devotions (Drama Desk Nomination), Sound and Beauty, and Bondage. Yellow Face, which premiered at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum and New York's Public Theatre, won a 2008 OBIE Award and was a Finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. He wrote the scripts for the Broadway musicals Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida (co-author), Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (2002 revival, 2003 Tony nomination), and Disney's Tarzan. His opera libretti include three works for composer Philip Glass, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, The Voyage (Metropolitan Opera), and The Sound of a Voice; as well as Bright Sheng's The Silver River, Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards) and Unsuk Chin's Alice In Wonderland (Opernwelt's 2007 "World Premiere of the Year"). Hwang penned the feature films M. Butterfly, Golden Gate, and Possession (co-writer), and also co-wrote the song "Solo" with Prince. A native of Los Angeles, Hwang serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild and is Silk Road Theatre Project's Artistic Ambassador. He attended Stanford University and Yale Drama School, and was appointed by President Clinton to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. His newest play, Chinglish, will enjoy its world-premiere production at Goodman Theatre, June 18 - July 24, 2011.

Steve Scott (director) is the Associate Producer of Goodman Theatre, where he has overseen more than 150 productions; he is also a member of Goodman's Artistic Collective. He has directed at a wide variety of other Chicago theaters, including the Goodman Theatre, Silk Road Theatre Project, Shattered Globe Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Next Theatre Company, Porchlight Theatre, Theatre Wit, Theatre at the Center, Theatre at the Center, Organic Touchstone Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, Redtwist Theatre, and Eclipse Theatre, where he is a company member. He is a member of the faculties of Act One Studio and the Theatre Conservatory at the College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University. Steve has received five Jeff nominations, an After Dark Award, and the Award of Honor from the Illinois Theatre Association.

Previews of Yellow Face are June 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 pm, and June 17 at 8:00 pm. The press opening is Saturday, June 18 at 4:00 pm. The production runs through July 17, 2011. Curtain times are Tuesdays+, Wednesdays++, and Thursdays at 7:30pm; Fridays at 8:00 pm; Saturdays at 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 4:00 pm. Tickets are $24.00 - $34.00. 20% discounts for groups of ten or more. Tickets for Yellow Face ($24 for previews, $34 for regular run) are now on sale and can be purchased at www.GoodmanTheatre.org, at the box office (170 N. Dearborn) or by phone: 312.443.3800.

+The only Tuesday performance will be the first preview performance on Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
++There will be no Wednesday performances on June 22 & June 29, 2011.

Discounted parking is available for $6 at System Parking, just 3 blocks from the theatre, at 230 W. Washington St.

Silk Road Theatre Project showcases playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean backgrounds, whose works address themes relevant to the peoples of the Silk Road and their Diaspora communities. Through the mediums of theatre, video, education, and advocacy, we aim to deepen and expand representation in American culture.

The award winning Silk Road Theatre Project was founded in 2002 and is under the leadership of the company's co-founders, Artistic Director Jamil Khoury and Executive Director Malik Gillani. SRTP is the recipient of the American Theatre Wing's 2010 National Theatre Company Grant Award, the 2008 Broadway In Chicago/League of Chicago Theaters' Emerging Theatre Award, the 2008 City of Chicago Human Relations Award, the 2007 Chicago Community Trust Lester and Hope Abelson Fund for the Performing Arts Award ("the Hopie"), the 2007 Columbia College Chicago's Arts Entrepreneurship Award, the 2007 Asian American Institute's Milestone Makers Award, and the 2006 Changing Worlds' Immigrant & Refugee Contributions Award. Major sponsors of Silk Road Theatre Project include: the Joyce Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Alphawood Foundation.

Goodman Theatre, "the leading regional theater in the nation's most important theater city" (Time), is a major cultural, educational and economic pillar in Chicago, generating nearly $300 million in economic impact over the past decade in its state-of-the-art two-theater complex on North Dearborn Street. Founded in 1925 and currently under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Falls, "Chicago's most essential director" (Chicago Tribune), and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, Chicago's oldest and largest not-for-profit resident theater has experienced unprecedented success over the past 10 years in its new downtown facility, welcoming nearly two million patrons to productions and events-including 10 festivals celebrating playwrights such as David Mamet, August Wilson and Horton Foote, as well as the biennial Latino Theatre Festival-serving 30 percent more students through its Education and Community Engagement programs (including the FREE Student Subscription Series and other interactive programs) and employing more than 3,000 artists and theater professionals. The Goodman has earned more than 90 awards for hundreds of productions, including the Pulitzer Prize for Ruined by Lynn Nottage-one of 25 new-work Goodman commissions in the last decade. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees is Patricia Cox, and Joan Clifford is President of the Women's Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.

More Articles by This Author...