Award Winning
Playwright AND US Advisory Council Member…David Henry
Hwang
David
Henry Hwang knows the importance of tolerance, and
the dangers of misunderstanding. Through his many
plays—including the Tony award-winning M.
Butterfly and the Obie award-winning Yellow
Face—the playwright has explored the racial and
cultural tensions (both comic and tragic) that can
arise between Asian and Caucasian peoples. But Hwang
has not settled simply for a career in the theater:
though his plays reach a wide audience, he knows that
there are certain groups of people—especially in
underserved communities—who cannot afford the time or
money to attend the theater, and who, ironically,
could benefit enormously from a theater experience.
Recognizing this issue, Hwang serves a member of the
Advisory Council of The Unusual Suspects,
helping bring theater workshops and productions to
the people who need them most.
Hwang first heard about
US through his wife Kathryn Layng, whom he met
when she was an understudy in the Broadway production
of M. Butterfly. Layng was—and still is—a good
friend of US founder Laura Leigh Hughes, and
when Hwang learned of the organization, his interest
was immediately piqued.
“I was really knocked out by
the work and the spirit of it,” Hwang said. “And I
was really impressed by Laura Leigh Hughes’ whole
vision for starting this.”
This introduction was back
in the early 1990s, and at the time Hughes was
organizing a performance by at-risk youth in a
theater in North Hollywood. Hwang saw the show and
loved it.
“I felt the writing was
surprisingly good,” he said. “There was a level of
professionalism and craft and dedication that really
pleasantly surprised me.”
Soon after, Hwang joined the
US board, and since then he has been
instrumental in the organization’s development over
the years, cultivating connections and assisting
Hughes’ transition from founder to board member. He
has also worked directly with the youth participants,
speaking with them about what it means to work in the
theater business and attending US performances
whenever he can.
Now a member of the Advisory
Council, Hwang feels as passionately about US
as he did fifteen years ago. Creating an environment
in which people can work together, especially on a
theatrical project, can be extremely effective in
eliminating harmful prejudice.
“People from different
groups working together for a common goal helps to
break down stereotypes and notions of difference,”
Hwang said. “And I think there’s an additional
benefit to working on an artistic project, because
that necessitates that you contribute a lot of
yourself and your emotions and be vulnerable to one
another. Creating a work of theater really allows
these kids to communicate with one another on a
deeper level.”
In today’s society, this
communication is badly needed. Hwang characterized
the current presidential administration’s policies as
“irresponsible” and “uncaring” when dealing with the
needs of youth from difficult economic backgrounds. A
lack of government funding in these areas has created
a need for programs such as US to step in and
make a difference.
“You really see how the kids
light up, and how smart they are, and how motivated
they are, and now much potential they have,” Hwang
said. “That potential is largely untapped by our
government.”
Through its programs at
prisons, probation camps, and high schools, The
Unusual Suspects reaches about four hundred youth
per year. There are many more who could stand to
benefit from US or a similar organization—and
indeed, who would love the experience. Rather than a
lack of desire on the part of at-risk youth to change
their lives, the main problem is the lack of
available means to do so.
“It’s not that hard to make
these kids have a better life, if only we could
devote more time and energy and people to this,”
Hwang said. “You get the sense that nobody’s asked
them these things before. The kids are open and
willing to change their lives.”
Hwang’s experience with
The Unusual Suspects inspired him to help create
the Coming Up Taller award, a national honor that
recognizes exceptional arts programs for underserved
youth. Hwang said he had always thought of US
as the perfect organization to win the award, and for
years he would write a recommendation to that effect,
but for some reason US never seemed to win.
Finally, in 2008, the President’s Committee on the
Arts and Humanities awarded Coming Up Taller to
The Unusual Suspects, and David Henry Hwang was
satisfied.
Hwang said that he himself
has been changed by his involvement with US.
Seeing the performances and attending the workshops
has made him shed some prejudices of his own.
“[The participants] are in the system for a
reason—they did something, and if I thought of it on
an abstract level, I might be afraid of them,” Hwang
said. “But really they’re just great kids who need
teaching and caring and attention, and that’s what
this program is able to bring them.”
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