Acting Critique of YellowFace

1 Acting Critique of YellowFace YellowFace is an innovative play written by David Henry Hwang with himself playing the lead role. The play portrays the difficulties that Asians have to overcome in Hollywood and their chances of success in the ever demanding and tough market of Broadway shows. The play also delves deeper into the misconceptions of Asian Americans, the hardships they face, and the politics behind them. After watching the play, I was left with the feeling that its meaning was more than just about Asian American struggles, but also about the struggles that every minority group in America has. While America is supposed to be this great “cultural melting pot” the truth is far from that. Personally, I found Christopher Gorham’s performance rousing and motivating while Hwang’s was lacking. In the first act, Gorham sets up the scene nicely by a superb acting performance that captured my attention and made myself feel invested in the play. He switches his use of long and brief pauses making it seem like he is just talking instead of reading a script. Gorham’s performance gave myself the impression that he was standing right there in front of me because he is not shy of the camera and looks straight into it with direct eye contact. When giving the main quote of this section- “Rice feeds the body, but song feeds the heart” he slightly chuckles and looks to his right. To me, it made his words seem more personal as if he actually was there to experience it happen. It also gave the feeling that he was reminiscing to a part of his past that has made a lasting impression on him today. 2 On the other hand, Hwang’s performance is seriously lacking in the scene where Linda Park talks to him in a park. Park seems deeply concerned about the increasing number of calls that Gorham is getting from the authorities. While she does not want to give away the fact that he is not actually Asian, she wants to clear his name from the accusations. Hwang’s lack of eye contact with her combined with his absence of facial expressions with the things she is saying makes it seem as if this news is not new to him. I can tell that he knows what she is going to say and lacks the range of emotions necessary to make the scene work. When he starts laughing he does not make any sound until he turns his back to the camera. It seems as if he is trying to hide his face so that one cannot tell and see his absence of convincible laughter. He then beats on the bench with his hands awkwardly and unnaturally. Personally, I feel that someone finding this information out might laugh a bit inside their head or chuckle to the side a bit but would not make a dramatic act about it. It makes me wonder if Hwang’s character truly understands the gravity of the situation. In one of the last scenes where Hwang and Gorham are talking to each other in the same park, Gorham effectively uses his voice to portray his desperation. The tone of his voice lowers and his bottom lip starts to quiver a bit. He again uses brief pauses as if he actually is thinking about what he is going to say. When talking, he also is leaning in closer towards Hwang portraying that what they are talking about is secretive. His hands are in his lap but he nervously shuffles them together giving the appearance that he truly is nervous. At the very end, his relaxes and opens his body up on the bench showing that he actually does not know how to fix the situation. Overall, the play was extremely interesting and opened my eyes into the hardships that minorities have to overcome on a daily basis. Gorham’s performance was outstanding and really 3 held the show together. However, Hwang could have made some small changes that would have made a big impact on his performance.