David Henry Hwang's "The Dance and the Railroad" and "The Sound of a Voice," are presented at The National Pastime Theatre in Chicago. These two early Hwang period pieces were first produced off-Broadway in 1981 and 1983 respectively. The production is being produced and directed by Makoto and will run April 4 - 6 and April 11 - 13, 2003 at The National Pastime Theatre, 4139 North Broadway Avenue, Chicago. The Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m. and the Sunday matinee performances are at 3 p.m. The production will feature Keith Uchima, Qing Lin, Joel Rosa, and Seizan Norma as the Shakuhachi player.. "The Dance and the Railroad," set in the nineteenth century, focuses on two immigrant Chinese men working on the transcontinental railroad and attempting to sort out their pasts while confronting new identities and uncertain futures in America. Hwang mirrors the characters conflicts in the plays form by creating a mixture of Eastern and Western theater and incorporating the nonrealistic modes of Chinese opera. "The Dance and the Railroad" recreates the life of a Peking Opera dancer who is forced to come to America. He works as a common laborer on one of the most notable achievements of the immigrant Chinese - the construction of the first transcontinental railroad.
In 1983, David Henry Hwang produced off-Broadway, two dramas consisting of two one-act plays set in Japan. Together, they are titled "Sound and Beauty," but each has its own title "The Sound of a Voice" and "The House of Sleeping Beauties." In these plays, Hwang moves away from tales of Chinese American immigrants and themes of race and assimilation, to stories about tragic love based on Japanese materials. In the folkloric tale, "The Sound of a Voice," David Henry Hwang shares his vision of intimacy, loneliness, and sacrifice in a gripping and beautiful one-act play. "The Sound of a Voice" pits a blustery, visceral samurai against a lonely woman of superhuman power and beauty who seduces him. She hopes only for the sound of a voice. The man is sent to kill a witch and finds a simple woman in need and a companion in a lonely world. (Irene Cualoping, ENERI Communications, LLC)