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Porcelain & A Language of Their Own
Porcelain is an examination of a young man's crime of passion. Triply scorned - as an Asian, a homosexual, and now a murderer - nineteen-year-old John Lee has confessed to shooting his lover in a public lavatory in London. Porcelain dissects the crime through a prism of conflicting voices: newscasts, flashbacks, and John's recollections to a prison psychiatrist. A Language of Their Own is a lyrical and dramatic meditation on the nature of desire and sexuality as four men - three Asian and one white - come together and drift apart in a series of interconnecting stories.
- GenresPlaysRead For SchoolLGBT
230 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 1997
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About the author
Chay Yew
12Ìýbooks1ÌýfollowerChay Yew is a playwright and stage director who was born in Singapore. As of 2007 he lives in New York City. In July 2011, he became Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago.
Yew's plays include As if He Hears; Porcelain; A Language of Their Own; Red; A Beautiful Country; Wonderland; Question 27, Question 28; Long Season; and Visible Cities. His adaptations include A Winter People (based on Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard) and Federico GarcÃa Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba. In 1989, the government in Singapore banned his first play As If He Hears because the gay character acted "too sympathetic and too straight-looking".[citation needed] Chay Yew's plays appear in numerous anthologies and are published by Grove Press. He is presently editing an anthology of contemporary Asian American plays, "Version 3.0," for TCG Publications.
Yew was the director of the Mark Taper Forum's Asian Theatre Workshop for 10 years. As of 2007 he serves on the board of directors of Theatre Communications Group. He also serves on the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Yew's plays have been produced by many theaters, including the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater in New York City, Royal Court in London, Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theatre Club, Wilma Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Intiman Theatre, Portland Center Stage, East West Players, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Perseverance Theatre, Dad's Garage, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Celebration Theatre and TheatreWorks Singapore. He is also the recipient of the London Fringe Award for Best Playwright and Best Play, George and Elisabeth Marton Playwriting Award, GLAAD Media Award, APGF Community Visibility Award, Made in America Award, AEA/SAG/AFTRA 2004 Diversity Honor, and Robert Chesley Award;[citation needed] he has also received grants from the Rockefeller MAP, McKnight Foundation and the TCG/Pew National Residency Program. His plays are published by Grove Press.
As a director, Chay Yew has directed plays at the Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theatre, Kennedy Center, Long Wharf Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, East West Players, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Goodman Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Geva Theatre Center, Empty Space, National Asian American Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, Theatre at Boston Court, Gala Hispanic Theatre, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Northwest Asian American Theatre, Walk and Squawk, Highways Performance Space, Pillsbury Playhouse, Smithsonian Institution and Theatre Rhinoceros. His productions have included such performers as Daniel Dae Kim, Amy Hill, Dennis Dun, Tamlyn Tomita, Sandra Tsing Loh, Margaret Cho, Rha Goddess and Brian Freeman. He also directed the world premieres of David Henry Hwang's and Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music and Rob Zuidam's Rage D'Amors (Tanglewood).
In 2006, Yew participated in The Collision Project at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.
Yew has directed numerous productions by other writers, including Naomi Iizuka's plays, "Strike-Slip" at Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival and "Citizen 13559" at the Kennedy Center; and Julia Cho's Durango at the Public Theater and Long Wharf Theatre.
Chay Yew is the recipient of the 2007 OBIE Award for Direction.
Selected plays
As if He Hears (1988)
Porcelain (1992)
A Language of Their Own (1995)
Half Lives (1996)
Red (1998)
A Beautiful Country (1998)
Wonderland (1999)
The House of Bernarda Alba (2000, adaptation of Federico GarcÃa Lorca)
Here and Now (2002)
A Winter People (2002, adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard)
A Distant Shore (2005)
The Long Season (2005)
Question 27, Question 28 (2006)
Visible Cities (2011)
source:
Yew's plays include As if He Hears; Porcelain; A Language of Their Own; Red; A Beautiful Country; Wonderland; Question 27, Question 28; Long Season; and Visible Cities. His adaptations include A Winter People (based on Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard) and Federico GarcÃa Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba. In 1989, the government in Singapore banned his first play As If He Hears because the gay character acted "too sympathetic and too straight-looking".[citation needed] Chay Yew's plays appear in numerous anthologies and are published by Grove Press. He is presently editing an anthology of contemporary Asian American plays, "Version 3.0," for TCG Publications.
Yew was the director of the Mark Taper Forum's Asian Theatre Workshop for 10 years. As of 2007 he serves on the board of directors of Theatre Communications Group. He also serves on the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Yew's plays have been produced by many theaters, including the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater in New York City, Royal Court in London, Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theatre Club, Wilma Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Intiman Theatre, Portland Center Stage, East West Players, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Perseverance Theatre, Dad's Garage, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Celebration Theatre and TheatreWorks Singapore. He is also the recipient of the London Fringe Award for Best Playwright and Best Play, George and Elisabeth Marton Playwriting Award, GLAAD Media Award, APGF Community Visibility Award, Made in America Award, AEA/SAG/AFTRA 2004 Diversity Honor, and Robert Chesley Award;[citation needed] he has also received grants from the Rockefeller MAP, McKnight Foundation and the TCG/Pew National Residency Program. His plays are published by Grove Press.
As a director, Chay Yew has directed plays at the Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theatre, Kennedy Center, Long Wharf Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, East West Players, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Goodman Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Geva Theatre Center, Empty Space, National Asian American Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, Theatre at Boston Court, Gala Hispanic Theatre, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Northwest Asian American Theatre, Walk and Squawk, Highways Performance Space, Pillsbury Playhouse, Smithsonian Institution and Theatre Rhinoceros. His productions have included such performers as Daniel Dae Kim, Amy Hill, Dennis Dun, Tamlyn Tomita, Sandra Tsing Loh, Margaret Cho, Rha Goddess and Brian Freeman. He also directed the world premieres of David Henry Hwang's and Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music and Rob Zuidam's Rage D'Amors (Tanglewood).
In 2006, Yew participated in The Collision Project at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.
Yew has directed numerous productions by other writers, including Naomi Iizuka's plays, "Strike-Slip" at Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival and "Citizen 13559" at the Kennedy Center; and Julia Cho's Durango at the Public Theater and Long Wharf Theatre.
Chay Yew is the recipient of the 2007 OBIE Award for Direction.
Selected plays
As if He Hears (1988)
Porcelain (1992)
A Language of Their Own (1995)
Half Lives (1996)
Red (1998)
A Beautiful Country (1998)
Wonderland (1999)
The House of Bernarda Alba (2000, adaptation of Federico GarcÃa Lorca)
Here and Now (2002)
A Winter People (2002, adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard)
A Distant Shore (2005)
The Long Season (2005)
Question 27, Question 28 (2006)
Visible Cities (2011)
source:
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 14, 2022
Second play for Text Studies. I read Porcelain, not the second one, and it was very good. Super compelling and queer stories are always good to read. Moved super fast, but that’s kind of the point. Definitely recommend
January 5, 2008
It seems like dramaturgy as an art is seriously moving towards extinction...well, not truly that...it's just morphing I suppose into new manifestations in the digital media (ex-)revolution (let's be optimistic). But The Play, soi-disant, that strange delicate creature that used to stretch its neck like a (vulnerable) egret twenty feet in front of you, is about dead. Revivals or classics don't count. And I think we can blame New York...I suppose it all still happens on the fringes...but if new work doesn't get the larger theaters and then get to radiate out, it ends up being No Sex Please, We're British or Agatha Christie. These plays were a fine addition to gay theater and theater in general; genuinely touching yet often scary relationships are torn apart with the ferocity a child would use to tear a butterfly's wings. Watch a bunch of movies by someone like Neil LaBute and then read this author for a different form of the Theater of Cruelty. It's not just people ripping at each other a la Albee. The author has a gift for situating the violence in a way that you begin to see how culture is responsible for much of this violence--how culture destroys individuals and individual relationships. And it's all done like the whispering of snow and we are left to blame ourselves...when we had a BIG accomplice usually. I believe this playwright introduced Alex Mapa to the theatrical world through these plays, but I'm not certain. I was thinking of one of the particularly nasty exchanges in here today while driving to work and I was devastated by how the language still stayed clear in my head...and this something I read many years ago. Props to the playwright.
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March 7, 2025“does the word homophobia mean anything to you�
March 16, 2024
5/5*
I think these powerful piece of work will live forever in my heart. The society that thrives off of oppression is a cruel one and these plays show you that and more. The complexity of the intersecting identities of both of these plays is such a crucial factor and component to really understand. Loved this for the exposure and giving voice to Asian culture and gay Asian men.
I think these powerful piece of work will live forever in my heart. The society that thrives off of oppression is a cruel one and these plays show you that and more. The complexity of the intersecting identities of both of these plays is such a crucial factor and component to really understand. Loved this for the exposure and giving voice to Asian culture and gay Asian men.
November 9, 2023
A Language of Their Own was beautiful and heart wrenching. I admire Daniel and feel sorrow and empathy for Oscar and frankly Robert too. I am still taken aback but still understanding of Ming’s character. This play is very very well written and very honest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2019
Very well written and A Language of Their Own was especially tender and real. Porcelain was fun to read. Both dark, probing plays.
April 19, 2025
Porcelain
July 10, 2012
Two intense dramas about Asian homosexuals and some of the trials and tribulations they face in their lives. Both are incredibly well written and have a good mix of lines of humor thrown in to offset the overly serious nature of the subject. I do believe that both are very typically "dramatic" using means such as screaming or montages of increasingly loud and fast dialogue to make overly clear points that might be impressed more by subtlety, but the stories are both told well, such is the voice of the dramatist making a point.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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