Lifestyle

In My Library: David Henry Hwang

Growing up Chinese-American in LA in the 1960s, David Henry Hwang was told to finish his food “because there are starving children in China.” But that, Hwang says, was the “old China” — the image of a strong, wealthy superpower didn’t hit our shores until we got a gander at Bruce Lee, fighting. “He created this new image of an Asian male hero that, for all intents and purposes, hadn’t existed til he came along,” says Hwang, the Tony-winning playwright (“M. Butterfly,” “Chinglish”). Enter “Kung Fu,” Hwang’s new play about an icon’s journey. The piece — told through drama, dance, opera and swift kicks — just opened at off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre, where it runs through March 16. Here’s what’s in Hwang’s library.

Free for All: Joe Papp, the Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told
by Kenneth Turan

Joe produced my first play at the Public, when I was 23: It was “FOB,” and it was supposed to be done in my dorm in my senior year. He took risks and was passionate about theater being accessible; he could also be difficult. This book evoked memories of working with him and captures him in all his contradictions.

Fresh Off the Boat
by Eddie Huang

This is a memoir, an Asian-American coming-of-age story by someone from a younger generation than me. Eddie Huang is primarily known as a chef — his restaurant, BaoHaus, is on East 14th Street. He’s very influenced by hip-hop and African-American artists. I really like his voice in this.

Ruined
by Lynn Nottage

This is one of my favorite plays of the last few years because it brings to life a situation we’ve all heard about: women dealing with war in Africa. This humanizes them in a way that was revelatory to me. I think that’s what theater can do, in its best form.

Dream of the Red Chamber
by Cao Xueqin (David Hawkes)

It’s one of the great Chinese novels, about the rise and fall of a wealthy family in the 18th century. I happen to be adapting it for an opera with composer Bright Sheng. This translation by David Hawkes is five volumes — you have to make a real commitment to read it, and this gave me an excuse. It gives you such a rich sense of the texture of what upper-class Chinese society was like 300 years ago.