Unbroken Blossoms at David Henry Hwang Theater

Unbroken Blossoms

David Henry Hwang Theater
120 Judge John Aiso St. Los Angeles

The silenced voices behind the real silent film. Two men are hired as the Chinese American consultants on Hollywood's first onscreen interracial love story... between a white actress and a white actor in yellowface makeup. A world premiere production that shines a light on the making of a boundary-breaking Hollywood classic.

Presented by East West Players

Thru - Jul 21, 2024

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 213-625-7000

www.eastwestplayers.org/

David Henry Hwang Theater Seating Chart

Unbroken Blossoms Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Los Angeles Times - Recommended

"...More than a century later, a new play puts that movie's anonymous participants at center stage. Titled "Unbroken Blossoms," the East West Players world premiere applauds the two Chinese consultants hired to work on Griffith's interracial romance film while a white actor plays the movie's Chinese immigrant character - complete with a rubber band on his head to make his eyes appear slanted onscreen."

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- Ashley Lee

Stage and Cinema - Recommended

"...Before seeing the world premiere of Unbroken Blossoms by Philip W. Chung at East West Players, I had never heard of the 1919 American silent film Broken Blossoms, directed by D. W. Griffith starring Lillian Gish and Richard Barthelmess, in which a frail waif is abused by her brutal boxer father in London’s seedy Limehouse District due to her developing love affair with a sensitive Chinese immigrant. The film was the first to feature an integrated love story at its center, but due to societal interracial concerns, the leading man was played by a Caucasian actor in “yellow face” with the two young lovers not allowed to kiss or even touch each other lovingly during the film."

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- Shari Barrett

LA Splash - Highly Recommended

"...Kudos as well to the production crew, including Mina Kinukawa (scenic designer), Sam Clevenger (projection designer), Michael O'Hara (properties designer), Jaymee Ngernwichit (costumes), Wesley Charles Siu Muen Chew (lighting, and Cinthia Nava (sound). And let's not forget Shinshin Yuder Tsai (intimacy director) and Cesar Cipriana (fight choreographer). All in all, this is the perfect culmination of a group effort. By the way, audiences are treated to scenes from the actual Griffith silent film, which lends special interest for those into cinematic history."

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- Elaine Mura

Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended

"...Hollywood history comes alive at East West Players in Philip W. Chung's Unbroken Blossoms, a fascinating and elucidating behind-the-scenes look at the silent movie classic that was Hollywood's first interracial love story."

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- Steven Stanley

ArtsBeatLA - Highly Recommended

"...Beautifully written by Philip W. Chung, Unbroken Blossoms is a new play that drops us into Hollywood during the late teens. Still wounded from the criticism and accusations of racism for his ambitious spectacle, the silent drama Birth of a Nation (1915), epic movie director and auteur D.W. Griffith (played by Arye Goss) is determined to redeem himself in the eyes of the public. Griffith embarks upon another controversial film, Broken Blossoms-a tragic tale of a waif, her abusive father and a kindly Chinese man who comes to her aid. It's a daring delve into taboo territory, considering that miscegenation (relationships between persons with different ethnic backgrounds) is outlawed in the US."

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- Pauline Adamek

Ticket Holders LA - Somewhat Recommended

"...The premise of Philip W. Chung's new play Unbroken Blossoms is compelling and genuinely eye-opening, exposing the racial inequities in the early days of film and exploring the collateral damage to which it gave rise that affected more than just our town's most omnipresent cottage industry."

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- Travis Michael Holder

Unbroken Blossoms at David Henry Hwang Theater