Yellow Face - Oregon Shakespeare Festival

August 5 – October 23, 2026 Angus Bowmer Theatre

Suitability and Accessibility Director Notes Creative Team Cast The Venue Education Events

A smart, semi-autobiographical comedy about the masks we wear

When DHH—a Chinese American playwright and staunch activist—protests the casting of a white actor in Miss Saigon, he never imagines he’ll make the same mistake himself. But after accidentally casting a white actor in the lead Asian role of his own play, he scrambles to cover his tracks, spinning an increasingly ridiculous web of half-truths, media frenzy, and personal contradictions. Pulitzer Prize finalist Yellow Face is a laugh-out-loud mockumentary that skewers the worlds of theatre, identity politics, and public image with razor-sharp wit. Fresh off a thrilling Broadway run, David Henry Hwang’s hilarious and thought-provoking Tony-nominated play comes to OSF in a new production directed by May Adrales (Vietgone).

Approximate running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, with no intermission.

Yellow Face is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service imprint. (www.dramatists.com)

Historical images for production provided courtesy of Helen Zia, Corky Lee Estate, Chris Hardy, Chinese Affirmative Action, and Outweek Magazine Archive.

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Suitability Suggestions

This theatre industry–centered comedy is a satiric look at race and racism in the theatre. There is mild profanity, a euphemistic mention of pornography and sex toys, and comically racist language used by those stereotyped. This play is best suited for students who are prepared for the quick-moving dialogue related to people and events from 1988 to the present. Preface recommended.

For additional content warnings regarding violence or graphic depictions that may be upsetting to some audience members, please see our Content Warnings page (may contain spoilers).

Accessibility

The Angus Bowmer Theatre is outfitted with an elevator that takes patrons to either Row E or Row K.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is committed to accessibility. We recognize the needs of persons with disabilities and strive to make our facilities and productions accessible to all. Please visit our Accessibility page for details about 2026 programs and services as they develop.

YELLOW FACE | Show Intro and First Read-Through

Cast and crew posing together in a rehearsal room

View rehearsal photo gallery.

Director’s Notes

Yellow Face is a play that refuses to sit quietly in one box: Funny—check. Uncomfortable—check. Personal—check. Political—check. Beginning with a landmark success for Asian Americans and devolving into a very very public mistake, David Henry Hwang invites us into an investigation on identity, visibility, and who gets to decide who we are.

Yellow Face asks a deceptively simple question: What does authenticity look like in a world built on performance? Race, patriotism, masculinity, activism—none of these are fixed here. They are negotiated, projected, misread, and sometimes weaponized. The play reminds us that even our best intentions are shaped by the systems we are trying to challenge.

This story lands differently depending on where you sit, what you carry, and what histories live in your body. For some, the humor may feel sharp; for others, painfully familiar. Laughter becomes a tool—not to dismiss complexity, but to crack it open. In that opening, we may recognize our own assumptions, blind spots, and contradictions. Media and public image plays a large and persuasive role in both the lives of the characters as well as in the play. Even more relevant than when it was first produced in 2007, the play challenges us to think more deeply about the built public persona and how it may uplift or completely contradict the causes we are hoping to fight for.

Yellow Face does not offer easy answers, and it does not ask for perfect heroes. Instead, it invites us into the messiness of being human in a racialized world—where identity is both self-determined and socially imposed, and where silence can be as loud as protest. As you experience the work, I invite you to stay curious. Notice when you feel seen, and when you feel unsettled. Let the play be a conversation rather than a conclusion. Theatre, at its best, is a space where we gather not to agree, but to listen more deeply—to each other, and to ourselves. Thank you for being part of this gathering.

—May Adrales