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

  JENNY: Why can’t I be like Chester?

  AMA: You cannot be like Chester.

  JENNY: Why not!

  POPO: You do not play violin. Chester does not dance. No hope.

  JENNY: I know, but, I mean, he’s a musician. Why can’t I be a dancer?

  AMA: Chester—his work very dangerous.

  JENNY: Dangerous?

  AMA: He just receive new job—play with Boston Symphony.

  JENNY: Yeah. I know. He’s leaving tomorrow. So? What’s so bad about Boston?

  AMA: Conductor—Ozawa—he is Japanese.

  JENNY: Oh no. Not this again.

  AMA: Very strict. If musicians miss one note, they must kill themself!

  JENNY: Don’t be ridiculous. That’s no reason why I can’t be like Chester.

  POPO: But Chester—he makes plenty money.

  JENNY: Yeah. Right. Now. But he has to leave home to do it, see? I want a career, too. So what if I never get married?

  AMA: Jenny! You must remember—you come from family of See-goh-poh. She was a great evangelist.

  JENNY: I know about See-goh-poh. She was your aunt.

  AMA: First in family to become Christian.

  POPO: She make this family chosen by God.

  JENNY: To do what? Clean teeth?

  AMA: Jenny!

  JENNY: Look, See-goh-poh never got married because of her work, right?

  AMA: See-goh-poh was marry to God.

  POPO: When Di-gou arrive, he will tell you his testimony. How See-goh-poh change his life.

  AMA: Before, he is like you. (To Popo) You remember?

  POPO: Yes. He is always so fussy.

  JENNY: I’m not fussy.

  AMA: Stubborn.

  POPO: Complain this, complain that.

  JENNY: I’m not complaining!

  AMA: He will be very happy to meet you. Someone to complain with.

  JENNY: I’m just telling you, there’s no such thing as a dancing dental technician!

  AMA: Good. You will be new discovery.

  POPO: When Di-gou is a little boy, he never play with other children. He only read the books. Read books—and play tricks.

  AMA: He is very naughty.

  POPO: He tell other children there are ghosts hide inside the tree, behind the bush, in the bathroom at night.

  AMA: One day, he feed snail poison to gardener.

  POPO: Then, when he turns eight year old, See-goh-poh decide she will bring him on her evangelism tour. When he return, he had the tongue of fire.

  JENNY: Oh, c’mon—those kind of things only happened in China.

  AMA: No—they can happen here as well.

  POPO: Di-gou at eight, he goes with See-goh-poh on her first evangelism tour—they travel all around Fukien—thirty day and night, preach to all villages. Five hundred people accept Christ on these thirty day, and See-goh-poh heal many sick, restore ear to deaf, put tongue in mouth of dumb, all these thing and cast out the demon. Perhaps even one dead man—dead and wither—he rise up from his sleep. Di-gou see all this while carry See-goh-poh’s bag and bring her food, ah? After thirty day, they return home. We have large banquet—perhaps twelve different dish that night—outside—underneath—ah—cloth. After we eat, See-goh-poh say, “Now is time for Family Devotions, and this time, he will lead.” See-goh-poh point to Di-gou, who is still a boy, but he walk up in front of table and begin to talk and flame begin to come from his mouth, over his head. Fire. Fire, all around. His voice—so loud—praise and testify the miracle of God. Louder and louder, more and more fire, ’til entire sky fill with light, does not seem to be night, like middle of day, like twelve noon. When he finish talk, sun has already rise, and cloth over our head, it is all burn, gone, ashes blow away.

  (Joanne enters, pulling Chester behind. He carries a suitcase.)

  JOANNE: Look who’s here!

  POPO: Chester—good you decide to come.

  JOANNE: He looked lost. This house isn’t that big, you know. (Exits)

  AMA (To Chester): You come for reunion with Di-gou. Very good.

  CHESTER: Uh—look, I really can’t stay. I have to finish packing.

  AMA: You must stay—see Di-gou!

  CHESTER: But I’m leaving tomorrow.

  (Doorbell.)

  Oh, no.

  JOANNE (Simultaneously): Can someone get that?

  JENNY (Simultaneously): Too late!

  POPO: Di-gou!

  AMA (To Chester): You must! This will be Di-gou!

  (Wilbur crosses with basket, now full of chicken bones.)

  WILBUR: I’ll get it. Chester, good to see you made it. (Exits)

  JENNY: He almost didn’t.

  CHESTER: I’m really short on time. I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow at the airport.

  POPO: Chester! When Di-gou arrive, he must see whole family! You stay!

  (Chester pauses, decides to stay.)

  CHESTER (To Jenny): This is ridiculous. I can’t stay.

  JENNY: I always have to. Just grin a lot when you meet this guy. Then everyone will be happy.

  CHESTER: I don’t wanna meet this guy!

  (Wilbur enters with Hannah and Robert, who are Chester’s parents. Hannah is Popo’s daughter. She is five years older than Joanne.)

  WILBUR (To Robert): What? What do you mean?

  (Ama stands on a chair and begins to make a speech:)

  AMA: Di-gou, thirty year have pass since we last see you—

  WILBUR (To Ama): Not now, Ma.

  AMA: Do you still love God?

  ROBERT (To Wilbur): What do you mean, “What do you mean?” That’s what I mean.

  HANNAH: He wasn’t there, Wilbur. (To Ama) Auntie! Di-gou isn’t with us.

  AMA: What? How can this be?

  ROBERT: Those Chinese airliners—all junk stuffs—so inefficient.

  AMA: Where is he?

  POPO (To Robert): You sure you look close?

  ROBERT: What “look close”? We just waited for everyone to get off the plane.

  AMA: Where is he?

  HANNAH (To Ama): We don’t know, Auntie! (To Chester) Chester, are you packed?

  AMA: Don’t know?

  CHESTER (To Hannah): No, I’m not. And I’m really in a hurry.

  HANNAH: You’re leaving tomorrow! Why aren’t you packed?

  CHESTER: I’m trying to, Mom.

  (Robert pulls out a newspaper clipping, shows it to Chester.)

  ROBERT: Look, son, I called the Chinese paper, used a little of my influence—they did a story on you. Here—

  CHESTER (Looks at clipping): I can’t read this, Dad! It’s in Chinese!

  ROBERT (Takes back clipping): Little joke, there.

  AMA (To anyone who will listen): Where is he?

  HANNAH (To Ama): Auntie, ask Wilbur. (To Chester) Get packed!

  CHESTER: All right!

  WILBUR (Trying to explain to Ama): Well, Mom, they said he wasn’t at—

  AMA (Ignoring Wilbur totally): Where is he?!

  (Robert continues to study the newspaper clipping, points a section out to Chester.)

  ROBERT: Here—this is where it talks about my bank.

  CHESTER: I’m going to pack.

  HANNAH (To Chester): Going?

  CHESTER (To Hannah): You said I should—

  HANNAH (To Chester): You have to stay and see Di-gou!

  (Wilbur makes another attempt to explain the situation to Ama:)

  WILBUR: See, Mom, I guess—

  AMA (Ignoring him again): Where is he?

  (Robert continues studying his clipping, oblivious.)

  ROBERT (Translating, to Chester): It says, “Great Chinese violinist will conduct and solo with New York Philharmonic.”

  CHESTER: What? It says what?

  HANNAH (To Chester): You came without being packed?

  (Ama decides to look for Di-gou on her own and starts searching the house.)

  AMA: Di-gou! Di-gou!

  WILBUR (Following Ama): Ma, listen. I’ll explain.

 
HANNAH (To Chester): How can you be so inefficient?

  CHESTER (To Robert): Dad, I just got a job playing in the violin section in Boston.

  AMA: Di-gou! Di-gou!

  CHESTER (To Robert): I’m not conducting, and—

  ROBERT (To Chester): Ssssh! I know. But good publicity—for the bank.

  HANNAH (To Chester): Well, I’ll help you pack later. But you have to stay ’til Di-gou arrives. Sheesh!

  CHESTER: I can’t believe this!

  AMA (Continuing her search): Di-gou! Are you already in bathroom? (Exits)

  HANNAH (To Ama): Auntie, he wasn’t at the airport! (To Wilbur) Why didn’t you tell her?

  WILBUR (Following Ama): I’m trying! I’m trying! (Exits)

  ROBERT: It’s those Communist airlines, I’m telling you. Inefficient.

  HANNAH: We asked at the desk. They didn’t have a flight list.

  AMA (Entering): Then where is he?

  WILBUR (Entering, in despair): Joanne, will you come here?

  ROBERT: They probably left him in Guam.

  POPO (To Robert): We give you that photograph. You remember to bring it?

  ROBERT: Of course I remembered.

  HANNAH (To Popo): Mom, it’s not Robert’s fault.

  POPO (To Hannah, referring to Robert): Should leave him in car.

  HANNAH: I tried.

  ROBERT: In the car?

  HANNAH: He wanted to come in.

  ROBERT: It’s hot in the car!

  AMA (To Robert): Suffer, good for you.

  POPO (To Hannah): You cannot control your husband.

  ROBERT: I suffer enough.

  HANNAH: He said he could help.

  POPO: He is wrong again.

  AMA: What to do now?

  (Jenny exits in the confusion; Joanne enters.)

  JOANNE: What’s wrong now?

  WILBUR: They lost your uncle.

  JOANNE: Who lost him?

  HANNAH: We didn’t lose him.

  AMA (To Robert): You ask at airport desk?

  ROBERT: I’m telling you, he’s in Guam.

  JOANNE (To Hannah): How could you lose a whole uncle?

  HANNAH: We never had him to begin with!

  JOANNE: So where is he?

  ROBERT: Guam, I’m telling—!

  POPO (To Robert): Guam, Guam! Shut mouth or go there yourself!

  HANNAH (A general announcement): We don’t know where he is!

  JOANNE: Should I call the police?

  WILBUR: You might have looked longer at the airport.

  HANNAH: That’s what I said, but (Referring to Robert) he said, “Aaah, too much trouble!”

  POPO (To Robert): See? You do not care about people from other provinces besides Shanghai.

  ROBERT (To Popo): Mom, I care. It’s just that—

  POPO (To Robert): Your father trade with Japanese during war.

  WILBUR: Huh?

  ROBERT: Mom, let’s not start that.

  POPO: Not like our family. We die first!

  WILBUR: What’s all this about?

  ROBERT: Hey, let’s not bring up all this other junk, right?

  POPO (To Robert): You are ashamed.

  ROBERT: The airport is a big place.

  WILBUR (To Robert): Still, you should’ve been able to spot an old Chinese man.

  ROBERT: Everyone on that plane was an old Chinese man!

  AMA: True. All Communist look alike.

  HANNAH: Hold it, everybody! (Pause) Listen, Di-gou has this address, right?

  AMA: No.

  HANNAH: No? (To Popo) Mom, you said he did.

  POPO: Yes. He does.

  AMA (To Popo): Yes? But I did not write to him.

  POPO: I did.

  AMA: Now, Communist—they will know this address.

  POPO: Never mind.

  AMA: No safety. Bomb us.

  HANNAH: Okay, he has this address, and he can speak English—after all, he went to medical school here, right? So he shouldn’t have any problem.

  JOANNE: What an introduction to America.

  HANNAH: All we can do is wait.

  ROBERT: We went up to all these old Chinese men at the airport, asked them, “Are you our Di-gou?” They all said yes. What could we do? They all looked drunk, bums.

  JOANNE: Maybe they’re all still wandering through the metal detectors, looking for their families, and will continue ’til they die.

  (Chester wanders onto the tennis court, observes the following section from far upstage.)

  I must have been only about seven the last time Di-gou visited us in the Philippines.

  AMA: Less.

  JOANNE: Maybe less.

  WILBUR: Honey, I’m sure everyone here has a memory, too. You don’t see them babbling about it, do you?

  JOANNE: The last thing I remember about Di-gou, he was trying to convince you grown-ups to leave the Philippines and return to China. There was a terrible fight—one of the worst that ever took place in our complex. I guess he wanted you to join the Revolution. The fight was so loud that all our servants gathered around the windows to watch.

  AMA: They did this?

  POPO: Shoot them.

  JOANNE: I guess this was just around 1949. Finally, Di-gou left, calling you all sorts of terrible names. On his way out, he set fire to one of our warehouses. All us kids sat around while the servants tried to put it out.

  POPO: No. That was not a warehouse.

  HANNAH: Yeah, Joanne—the warehouses were concrete, remember?

  JOANNE (To Hannah): But don’t you remember a fire?

  HANNAH: Yes.

  POPO: I think he burn a pile of trash.

  ROBERT (To Wilbur): I know how you feel. They’re always yap-yap-yapping about their family stories—you’d think they were the only family in China. (To Hannah) I have memories, too.

  HANNAH: You don’t remember anything. You have a terrible memory.

  ROBERT: Look, when I was kidnapped, I didn’t know—

  HANNAH: Sssssh!

  JOANNE: Quiet, Robert!

  POPO: Like broken record, ghang, ghang, ghang.

  WILBUR (To Robert): I tell you what: you wanna take a look at my collection of tax shelters?

  ROBERT: Same old stuff?

  WILBUR: No. Some new ones.

  (Robert and Wilbur exit. Di-gou appears on the tennis court; only Chester sees him, but Chester says nothing. Chester watches Di-gou watching the women.)

  JOANNE: Anyway, he set fire to something and the flames burned long into the night. One servant was even killed in it, if I remember correctly. I think Matthew’s nursemaid was trying to put it out when her dress caught fire and, like a fool, she ran screaming all over the complex. All the adults were too busy to hear her, I guess, and all the kids just sat there and watched this second fire, moving in circles and screaming. By morning, both fires were out, and our tutors came as usual. But that day, nothing functioned just right—I think the water pipes broke in Sah-Zip’s room, the cars wouldn’t start—something—all I remember is servants running around all day with one tool or another. And that was how Di-gou left Manila for the last time. Left Manila and returned to China—in two fires—one which moved—and a great rush of handymen.

  (Di-gou has made his way to sitting in their midst in the sunroom. He puts down his suitcase. They all turn and see him. He sticks his thumb out, as if for hitchhiking, but his thumb is pointed down instead of up.)

  DI-GOU: “Going my way?”

  AMA: Di-gou!

  DI-GOU: “Hey, baby, got a lift?”

  POPO: You see? Our family members will always return.

  JOANNE (To Di-gou): Are you—? Oh, you’re—? Well, nice—how did you get here?

  DI-GOU (Pulls a book out of his jacket): Our diplomacy handbook. Very useful.

  POPO: Welcome to America!

  DI-GOU (Referring to the handbook): It says, “When transportation is needed, put your thumb as if to plug a hole.”

  (Ama stands on the chair again.)

  AMA: Di-gou, thir
ty year have passed—

  DI-GOU (Still reading): “And say, ‘Going my way?’”

  AMA: Do you still believe in God?

  DI-GOU: “Or, ‘Hey, baby, got a lift?’”

  AMA: Do you?

  HANNAH (To Ama): Auntie, he’s explaining something.

  DI-GOU: It worked! I am here!

  AMA (Getting down off chair): Still as stubborn as before.

  DI-GOU: Hello, my sisters.

  POPO: Hello, Di-gou. This is my daughter, Hannah.

  HANNAH (To Di-gou): Were you at the airport? We were waiting for you.

  DI-GOU: Hannah. Oh, last time, you were just a baby.

  AMA (Introducing Joanne): And Joanne, remember?

  JOANNE: Hello, Di-gou. How was your flight?

  DI-GOU: Wonderful, wonderful.

  POPO: Where is Chester? Chester!

  (Chester enters the lanai.)

  Him—this is number-one grandson.

  DI-GOU: Oh, you are Chester. You are the violinist, yes?

  CHESTER: You’re Di-gou?

  DI-GOU: Your parents are so proud of you.

  HANNAH: We are not. He’s just a kid who needs to pack.

  AMA: Where is Jenny? Jenny!

  HANNAH (To Di-gou): We figured you’d be able to get here by yourself.

  DI-GOU: Oh, yes.

  (Di-gou sticks out his thumb. Jenny enters.)

  JOANNE: Jenny! Say, “Hi, Di-gou.”

  JENNY: Hi, Di-gou.

  DI-GOU (To Joanne): This is your daughter?

  JOANNE: Yes. Jenny. (Pause) Jenny, say, “Hi, Di-gou.”

  JENNY: Mom, I just did!

  JOANNE: Oh. Right.

  JENNY: Will you cool out?

  DI-GOU: Jenny, the last time I saw your mother, she was younger than you are now.

  JENNY: He’s kinda cute.

  JOANNE: Jenny, your granduncle is not cute.

  DI-GOU: Thank you.

  JENNY (To Joanne): Can I go now?

  AMA: Why you always want to go?