Soft Power: The Inspiration Behind David Henry Hwang's New Play

USC's Center on Public Diplomacy presents a talk with David Henry Hwang, about his upcoming play "Soft Power" which premieres at the Amhanson Theatre May 3, 2018.

A Conversation with the Playwright
Tony Award® winner David Henry Hwang (Yellow Face, M. Butterfly) joins CPD and Center Theatre Group to discuss the inspiration behind his upcoming World premiere of Soft Power, which begins at the Ahmanson Theatre May 3, 2018. Discover how Hwang collaborated with Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home) to translate China’s interests in achieving soft power into a new piece of theatre for Los Angeles audiences.

Co-sponsored by Center Theatre Group.

About David Henry Hwang

David Henry Hwang is a playwright, screenwriter, television writer and librettist, whose stage works includes the plays M. Butterfly, Chinglish, Yellow Face, Kung Fu, Golden Child, The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, as well as the Broadway musicals Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida (co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 revival) and Disney’s Tarzan. Hwang is a Tony Award® winner and three-time nominee, a three-time OBIE Award winner, and a two-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. He is also America’s most-produced living opera librettist, whose works have been honored with two Grammy Awards, and he co-wrote the Gold Record "Solo" with the late pop star Prince. Hwang is currently a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series The Affair, and his screenplays include Possession, M. Butterfly, and Golden Gate.

He serves as Head of Playwriting at Columbia University School of the Arts, and was recently named Chair of the American Theatre Wing, which founded and co-presents the Tony Awards. A Broadway revival of M. Butterfly, directed by Julie Taymor, is slated for next season, and his newest play with music, Soft Power, with composer Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), to be directed by frequent collaborator Leigh Silverman, will premiere in early 2018 at Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre.

In 2016, The David Henry Hwang Society was founded by William C. Boles (Rollins College), Martha Johnson (University of Minnesota), and Esther Kim Lee (University of Maryland). The DHH Society is devoted to the scholarly examination of plays by David Henry Hwang.

On-campus parking can be purchased for $12, and the closest parking structure to the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism is the McCarthy Way structure located on 34th Street and S. Figueroa Blvd.

When
Tuesday, April 24, 2018 -
6:00pm to 7:30pm

Where
USC; Wallis Annenberg Hall Forum