Trying to Find Chinatown: The Selected Plays of David Henry Hwang Read online

  STEVE: She gave this to me!

  DALE: People here have their flies zipped up—see?

  STEVE: You should not look in it.

  DALE: So you’re not in Hong Kong. And I’m not one of your servant boys that you can knock around—that you got by trading pornographic playing cards—that you probably deal out to your friends. You’re in America, understand?

  STEVE: Quiet! Do you know who I am?

  DALE: Yeah—you’re a FOB. You’re a rich FOB in the U.S. But you better watch yourself. ’Cause you can be sent back.

  STEVE: Shut up! Do you know who I am?

  DALE: You can be sent back, you know—just like that.’Cause you’re a guest here, understand?

  STEVE (To Grace): Tell him who I am.

  DALE: I know who he is—heir to a fortune in junk merchandise. Big deal. Like being heir to Captain Crunch.

  STEVE: Tell him!

  (Silence.)

  GRACE: You know it’s not like that.

  STEVE: Tell him!

  DALE: Huh?

  GRACE: All the stuff about rice bowls and—zippers—have you ever been there, Dale?

  DALE: Well, yeah. Once. When I was ten.

  GRACE: Well, it’s changed a lot.

  DALE: Remember getting heat rashes.

  GRACE: People are dressing really well now—and the whole place has become really stylish—well, certainly not everybody, but the people who are well-off enough to send their kids to American colleges—they’re really kinda classy.

  DALE: Yeah.

  GRACE: Sort of.

  DALE: You mean, like him. So what? It’s easy to be classy when you’re rich.

  GRACE: All I’m saying is...

  DALE: Hell, I could do that.

  GRACE: Huh?

  DALE: I could be classy, too, if I was rich.

  GRACE: You are rich.

  DALE: No. Just upper-middle. Maybe.

  GRACE: Compared to us, you’re rich.

  DALE: No, not really. And especially not compared to him. Besides, when I was born we were still poor.

  GRACE: Well, you’re rich now.

  DALE: Used to get one LifeSaver a day.

  GRACE: That’s all? One LifeSaver?

  DALE: Well, I mean, that’s not all I lived on. We got normal food, too.

  GRACE: I know, but . . .

  DALE: Not like we were living in cardboard boxes or anything.

  GRACE: All I’m saying is that the people who are coming in now—a lot of them are different—they’re already Westernized. They don’t act like they’re fresh off the boat.

  DALE: Maybe. But they’re still FOBs.

  STEVE: Tell him who I am!

  DALE: Anyway, real nice dinner, Grace. I really enjoyed it.

  GRACE: Thank you.

  STEVE: Okay! I will tell myself.

  DALE: Go tell yourself—just don’t bother us.

  GRACE (Standing, to Steve): What would you like to do now?

  STEVE: Huh?

  GRACE: You wanted to go out after dinner?

  STEVE: Yes, yes. We go out.

  DALE: I’ll drive. You sent the hearse home.

  STEVE: I tell driver—return car after dinner.

  DALE: How could you...? What time did you...? When did you tell him to return? What time?

  STEVE (Looks at his watch): Seven-five.

  DALE: No—not what time is it. What time you tell him to return?

  STEVE: Seven-five. Go see.

  (Dale exits through the kitchen.)

  (No accent) Why wouldn’t you tell him who I am?

  GRACE: Can Gwan Gung die?

  (Pause.)

  STEVE: No warrior can defeat Gwan Gung.

  GRACE: Does Gwan Gung fear ghosts?

  STEVE: Gwan Gung fears no ghosts.

  GRACE: Ghosts of warriors?

  STEVE: No warrior ghosts.

  GRACE: Ghosts that avenge?

  STEVE: No avenging ghosts.

  GRACE: Ghosts forced into exile?

  STEVE: No exiled ghosts.

  GRACE: Ghosts that wait?

  (Pause.)

  STEVE (Quietly): May I... take you out tonight? Maybe not tonight, but some other time? Another time? (He strokes her hair) What has happened?

  DALE (Entering): I cannot believe it... (He sees them) What do you think you’re doing? (He grabs Steve’s hand. To Steve) What... I step out for one second and you just go and—hell, you FOBs are sneaky. No wonder they check you so close at Immigration.

  GRACE: Dale, I can really take care of myself.

  DALE: Yeah? What was his hand doing, then?

  GRACE: Stroking my hair.

  DALE: Well, yeah. I could see that. I mean, what was it doing stroking your hair? (Pause) Uh, never mind. All I’m saying is... (He gropes) Jesus! If you want to be alone, why don’t you just say so, huh? If that’s what you really want, just say it, okay? (Pause) Okay. Time’s up.

  GRACE: Was the car out there?

  DALE: Huh? Yeah. Yeah, it was. I could not believe it. I go outside and—thank God—there’s no limousine. Just as I’m about to come back, I hear this sound like the roar of death and this big black shadow scrapes up beside me. I could not believe it!

  STEVE (Speaking with accent again): Car return—seven-five.

  DALE: And when I asked him—I asked the driver, what time he’d been told to return. And he just looks at me and says, “Now.”

  STEVE: We go out?

  DALE: What’s going on here? What is this?

  STEVE: Time to go.

  DALE: No! Not till you explain what’s going on.

  STEVE (To Grace): You now want to dance?

  DALE (To Grace): Do you understand this? Was this coincidence?

  STEVE (To Grace): I am told good things of American discos.

  DALE (To Grace): You and him just wanna go off by yourselves?

  STEVE: I hear of Dillon’s.

  DALE: It’s okay, you know.

  STEVE: In Westwood.

  DALE: I don’t mind.

  STEVE: Three—four stories.

  DALE: Really.

  STEVE: Live band.

  DALE: Cousin.

  STEVE: We go. (He takes Grace’s hand)

  DALE: He’s just out to snake you, you know.

  (Dale takes Grace’s other hand. From this point on, almost unnoticeably, the lights begin to dim.)

  GRACE: Okay! That’s enough! (She pulls away) That’s enough! I have to make all the decisions around here, don’t I? When I leave it up to you two, the only place we go is in circles.

  DALE: Well...

  STEVE: No, I am suggesting place to go.

  GRACE: Look, Dale, when I asked you here, what did I say we were going to do?

  DALE: Uh—dinner and a movie—or something. But it was a different “we,” then.

  GRACE: It doesn’t matter. That’s what we’re going to do.

  DALE: I’ll drive.

  STEVE: My car can take us to movie.

  GRACE: I think we better not drive at all. We’ll stay right here. (She removes Steve’s tie. To Steve) Do you remember this?

  DALE (Assumes Grace is talking to him): What—you think I borrow clothes or something? Hell, I don’t even wear ties.

  (Grace takes the tie, wraps it around Dale’s face like a blindfold.)

  Grace, what are you . . . ?

  GRACE (To Steve): Do you remember this?

  DALE: I already told you. I don’t need a closer look or nothing.

  STEVE: Yes.

  GRACE (Ties the blindfold, releases it): Let’s sit down.

  DALE: Wait.

  STEVE: You want me to sit here?

  DALE: Grace, is he understanding you?

  GRACE: Have you ever played Group Story?

  STEVE: Yes, I have played that.

  DALE: There—there he goes again! Grace, I’m gonna take . . .

  (He starts to remove the blindfold)

  GRACE (Stopping him): Dale, listen or you won’t understand.

 
; DALE: But how come he’s understanding?

  GRACE: Because he’s listening.

  DALE: But...

  GRACE: Now, let’s play Group Story.

  DALE: Not again. Grace, that’s only good when you’re stoned.

  GRACE: Who wants to start? Steve, you know the rules?

  STEVE: Yes—I understand.

  DALE: See, we’re talking normal speed—and he still understood.

  GRACE: Dale, would you like to start?

  (Pause.)

  DALE: All right.

  (By this time, the lights have dimmed, throwing shadows on the stage. Throughout the following, Grace will strike two pots together to indicate each speaker change, and the ritual will gradually take on elements of Chinese opera.)

  Uh, once upon a time... there were... three bears—Grace, this is ridiculous!

  GRACE: Tell a story.

  DALE: ...three bears and they each had... cancer of the lymph nodes. Uh—and they were very sad. So the baby bear said, “I’ll go to the new Cedar Sinai Hospital, where they may have a cure for this fatal illness.”

  GRACE: But the new Cedar Sinai Hospital happened to be two thousand miles away—across the ocean.

  STEVE (Gradually losing his Chinese accent): That is very far.

  DALE: How did—? So, the bear tried to swim over, but his leg got chewed off by alligators—are there alligators in the Pacific Ocean?—Oh, well. So he ended up having to go for a leg and a cure for malignant cancer of the lymph nodes.

  GRACE: When he arrived there, he came face to face with—

  STEVE: With Gwan Gung, god of warriors, writers and prostitutes.

  DALE: And Gwan Gung looked at the bear and said…

  GRACE: .…strongly and with spirit . . .

  STEVE: “One-legged bear, what are you doing on my land? You are from America, are you not?”

  DALE: And the bear said, “Yes. Yes.”

  GRACE: And Gwan Gung replied...

  STEVE (Getting up): By stepping forward, sword drawn, ready to wound, not kill, not end it so soon. To draw it out, play it, taunt it, make it feel like a dog.

  DALE: Which is probably closely related to the bear.

  GRACE: Gwan Gung said—

  STEVE: “When I came to America, did you lick my wounds? When I came to America, did you cure my sickness?”

  DALE: And just as Gwan Gung was about to strike—

  GRACE: There arrived Fa Mu Lan, the Woman Warrior.

  (She stands, faces Steve. From here on in, she no longer strikes the pots together.)

  “Gwan Gung.”

  STEVE: “What do you want? Don’t interfere! Don’t forget, I have gone before you into battle many times.”

  DALE: But Fa Mu Lan seemed not to hear Gwan Gung’s warning. She stood between him and the bear, drawing out her own sword.

  GRACE: “You will learn I cannot forget. I don’t forget, Gwan Gung. Spare the bear and I will present gifts.”

  STEVE: “Very well. He is hardly worth killing.”

  DALE: And the bear hopped off. Fa Mu Lan pulled a parcel from beneath her gown.

  (Grace removes Dale’s blindfold.)

  She pulled out two items.

  GRACE: “This is for you.” (She hands blindfold to Steve)

  STEVE: “What is that?”

  DALE: She showed him a beautiful piece of red silk, thick enough to be opaque, yet so light he barely felt it in his hands.

  GRACE: “Do you remember this?”

  STEVE: “Why, yes. I used this silk for sport one day. How did you get hold of it?”

  DALE: Then she presented him with a second item. It was a fabric—thick and dried and brittle.

  GRACE: “Do you remember this?”

  STEVE (Turning away): “No, no. I’ve never seen this before in my life. This has nothing to do with me. What is it—a dragon skin?”

  DALE: Fa Mu Lan handed it to Gwan Gung.

  GRACE: “Never mind. Use it—as a tablecloth. As a favor to me.”

  STEVE: “It’s much too hard and brittle. But, to show you my graciousness in receiving—I will use it tonight!”

  DALE: That night, Gwan Gung had a large banquet, at which there was plenty, even for the slaves. But Fa Mu Lan ate nothing. She waited until midnight, till Gwan Gung and the gods were full of wine and empty of sense. Sneaking behind him, she pulled out the tablecloth, waving it above her head.

  GRACE (Ripping the tablecloth from the table): “Gwan Gung, you foolish boy. This thing you have used tonight as a tablecloth—it is the stretched and dried skins of my fathers. My fathers, whom you slew—for sport! And you have been eating the sins—you ate them!”

  STEVE: “No. I was blindfolded. I did not know.”

  DALE: Fa Mu Lan waved the skin before Gwan Gung’s face. It smelled suddenly of death.

  GRACE: “Remember the day you played? Remember? Well, eat that day, Gwan Gung.”

  STEVE: “I am not responsible. No. No.”

  (Grace throws one end of the tablecloth to Dale, who catches it. As Grace and Dale chase Steve about the stage, waving the tablecloth like a net, they act out the roles of Steve’s parents.)

  DALE: Yes!

  GRACE: Yes!

  STEVE: No!

  DALE: You must!

  GRACE: Go!

  STEVE: Where?

  DALE: To America!

  GRACE: To work!

  STEVE: Why?

  DALE: Because!

  GRACE: We need!

  STEVE: No!

  DALE: Why?

  GRACE: Go.

  STEVE: Hard!

  DALE: So?

  GRACE: Need.

  STEVE: Far!

  DALE: So?

  GRACE: Need!

  STEVE: Safe!

  DALE: Here?

  GRACE: No!

  STEVE: Why?

  DALE: Them. (Points offstage)

  GRACE: Them. (Points offstage)

  STEVE: Won’t!

  DALE: Must!

  GRACE: Must!

  STEVE: Won’t!

  DALE: Go!

  GRACE: Go!

  STEVE: Won’t!

  DALE: Bye!

  GRACE: Bye!

  STEVE: Won’t!

  DALE: Fare!

  GRACE: Well!

  (Dale and Grace drop the tablecloth over Steve, who sinks to the floor. Grace moves offstage, while Dale goes upstage and stands with his back to the audience. Silence.)

  STEVE (Begins pounding the ground): Noooo!

  (Steve throws off the tablecloth, standing up full. Lights up full, blindingly.)

  I am GWAN GUNG!

  DALE (Turning downstage suddenly): What . . . ?

  STEVE: I HAVE COME TO THIS LAND TO STUDY!

  DALE: Grace...

  STEVE: TO STUDY THE ARTS OF WAR, OF LITERATURE, OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!

  DALE: A movie’s fine.

  STEVE: I FOUGHT THE WARS OF THE THREE KINGDOMS!

  DALE: An ordinary movie, let’s go.

  STEVE: I FOUGHT WITH THE FIRST PIONEERS, THE FIRST WARRIORS THAT CHOSE TO FOLLOW THE WHITE GHOSTS TO THIS LAND!

  DALE: You can pick, okay?

  STEVE: I WAS THEIR HERO, THEIR LEADER, THEIR FIRE!

  DALE: I’ll even let him drive, how’s that?

  STEVE: AND THIS LAND IS MINE! IT HAS NO RIGHT TO TREAT ME THIS WAY!

  GRACE (Offstage): No. Gwan Gung, you have no rights.

  STEVE: Who’s speaking?

  (Grace enters with a da dao and mao, two swords.)

  GRACE: It is Fa Mu Lan. You are in a new land, Gwan Gung.

  STEVE: Not new—I have been here before, many times. This time, I said I will have it easy. I will come as no Chinaman before—on a plane, with money and rank.

  GRACE: And?

  STEVE: And—there is no change. I am still treated like this! This land... has no right. I AM GWAN GUNG!

  GRACE: And I am Fa Mu Lan.

  DALE: I’ll be Chiang Kai-shek, how’s that?

  STEVE (To Dale): You! How can you—? I came o
ver with your parents.

  GRACE (Turning to Steve): We are in America. And we have a battle to fight.

  (Grace tosses the da dao to Steve. They square off.)

  STEVE: I don’t want to fight you.

  GRACE: You killed my family.

  STEVE: You were revenged—I ate your father’s sins.

  GRACE: That’s not revenge!

  (They strike swords.)

  That was only the tease.

  (Strike.)

  What’s the point in dying if you don’t know the cause of your death?

  (Series of strikes. Steve falls.)

  DALE: Okay! That’s it!

  (Grace stands over Steve, her sword pointed at his heart. Dale snatches the sword from her hands. She does not move.)

  What the hell kinda movie was that?

  (Dale turns his back on the couple and heads offstage. Grace uses her now-invisible sword to thrust in and out of Steve’s heart once. Dale reenters.)

  That’s it. Game’s over. Now just sit down here. Breathe. One. Two. One. Two. Air. Good stuff. Glad they made it. Right, cousin?

  (Dale strokes Grace’s hair. They freeze. Steve rises slowly to his knees and delivers a monologue to the audience:)

  STEVE: Ssssh! Please, miss! Please—quiet! I will not hurt you, I promise. All I want is... food... anything. You look full of plenty. I have not eaten almost one week now, but four days past when I found one egg and I ate every piece of it—including shell. Every piece, I ate. Please. Don’t you have anything extra? (Pause) I want to. Now. This land does not want us any more than China. But I cannot. All work was done, then the bosses said they could not send us back. And I am running, running from Eureka, running from San Francisco, running from Los Angeles. And I been eating very little. One egg, only. (Pause) All America wants Chinamen go home, but no one want it bad enough to pay our way. Now, please, can’t you give even little? (Pause) I ask you, what you hate most? What work most awful for white woman? (Pause) Good. I will do that thing for you—you can give me food. (Pause) Think—you relax, you are given those things, clean, dry, press. No scrub, no dry. It is wonderful thing I offer you. (Pause) Good. Give me those and please bring food, or I be done before these things.