David Henry Hwang, the Man Who Can Make Bruce Lee Talk

Jeff Brown for The New York Times

David Henry Hwang, whose new play, "Kung Fu," is inspired by Bruce Lee.

On a late summer morning, in a room far west on 42nd Street, Bruce Lee, who has yet to become the greatest martial artist of all time, is putting the moves on a young Japanese-American dancer.

"Cannot fight the qi force," Bruce informs her. "Energy. Between man and woman. Very powerful. So must allow the flow, the qi force to —"

She interrupts him. "You're using ancient Chinese philosophy? To get into my pants?"

"Philosophy," he says, "it should be practical."

The line got its laugh from the small group in attendance, including David Henry Hwang, who wrote it. As he listened to the first 70 pages of his new play, "Kung Fu," his face softened. The brashness of the Bruce Lee he is creating tickled him. The only thing that betrayed his anxiety was his right hand, clamped so firmly over his mouth that it seemed to become his center of gravity. He learned long ago not to reveal his feelings.

A quarter-century after "M. Butterfly" won him the Tony Award, Hwang, a first-generation Chinese-American, still bends under the lifelong weight of expectations from his high-achieving immigrant family. He will come to sparkling life on a panel or at a lectern; he will give a pithy quote about multiculturalism to the media. But the real Hwang, the one with the wicked sense of humor, the soaring emotionalism of an opera diva and the pounding anger of a neglected child, is glimpsed almost exclusively onstage. So today, it is Bruce Lee who gets all the best lines, the ones Hwang would never even consider saving for himself.

When the reading was over, James Houghton, the founding artistic director of the Signature Theater, where it took place, embraced Hwang and said, "It's great, man."

Hwang answered excitedly: "I know where it's going, I'm finding his voice." When he realized I'd heard him, he balked. "I have to get a mint, excuse me," he said, walking away. This was classic Hwang. Don't count your chickens and never brag.

This year, though, Hwang has earned his bragging rights. The Signature will devote a season to his 32-year career, reviving two plays, and will support the world premiere of "Kung Fu." Yes, you can win a fellowship from the Guggenheim or Rockefeller Foundations (Hwang has won both) to prove your playwriting prowess, but in the American theater, nothing tops a Signature season. Among Hwang's predecessors are Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Sam Shepard and August Wilson.

On Tuesday, Hwang's season opens with "Golden Child," a juicy family history inspired by his great-grandfather's three wives. The play ran on Broadway in 1998 but began as an oral history that Hwang took as a 10-year-old from his grandmother, the golden child of the title and among the first generation of girls never to have her feet bound. When she became ill in 1968 and seemed near death, Hwang traveled to the Philippines (alone), where he wrote her story, which became the basis for the play. She did not die. She saw the play, at 90, in California.

Next up is the first major New York revival of "The Dance and the Railroad," a poignant pas de deux between two young Chinese immigrants in the 1860s, torn between their impulses to assimilate and to preserve their cultural heritage. Joseph Papp produced it at the Public Theater in 1981. "Kung Fu," which Hwang envisions as a play with music and movement, requiring a more elaborate production, will open in the 2013-14 season.

Hwang, 55, has had the career of a golden child himself. He began working as a playwright while a senior in college, when he wrote "F.O.B." (fresh off the boat) for a production in his dormitory at Stanford. The following year, the play opened at the Public Theater, winning an Obie Award. At 24, he dropped out of the Yale School of Drama because, well, he was already in business. Six years later, "M. Butterfly," based on the true story of a French diplomat's 20-year affair with a Chinese opera star who was actually a male spy, made him the most famous Asian-American playwright in the history of the American theater.

Alex Witchel is a staff writer for the magazine and the author of "All Gone: A Memoir of My Mother's Dementia. With Refreshments."

Editor: Sheila Glaser

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