The use of Chinese performance interested me. I think it was important for Hwang to include the demonstration of Chinese art in the play as a stark contrast to European opera. It certainly challenged the audience to participate in a more unfamiliar art form. In a sense, it demanded the audience to evaluate their own racial and gender understandings of Eastern Asia. This was very clever on Hwang’s part. Furthermore, it was just eye-opening because it portrayed a type of art that is rarely seen by Broadway.
Another element of this revival that is important to address is the knowledge that viewers already have of Song’s actual background. When the production was first put on Broadway, the fact that Song Liling was a male disguised as a female must have been surprising to most viewers. Because the play has garnered such popularity since then, this must not have been as shocking for viewers the second time around. This situation was addressed in a redirection of surprise. The most shocking part of the story for me was Song’s compassion. His love for Gallimard, which was not prominent whatsoever in the first rendition, was made most evident in the final scene when Gallimard commits seppuku. Originally, Song stood to the side indifferently, but here, he actually approaches Gallimard and expresses intense sorrow over his suicide.
