David Henry Hwang (黃哲倫 Pinyin: Huáng Zhìlún) is a contemporary Americann playwright. Many of his plays concern the role of the Chinese American and Asian American in the modern day world. His first play, FOB, depicts the contrasts and conflicts between established Asian Americans and "Fresh Off the Boat" newcomer immigrants. He is perhaps most well-known for his masterpiece, M. Butterfly, for which he won a Tony Award, a clever and brilliant deconstruction of Puccini's Madame Butterfly; the play is loosely based on news reports of the relationship between a French diplomat, Bernard Boursicot, and Shi Pei Pu, a male Chinese opera singer who purportedly convinced Boursicot that he was a woman throughout their long relationship.
Hwang's other works include: Family Devotions, The Dance and The Railroad, Bondage, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, a collaboration with music composer Philip Glass, the book of Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, and a revision of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song.
