Danny Nguyen’s Reviews > Golden Child > Status Update

Fascinating play about generation and what to pass and what to keep, the struggle of preserving family and history into the future. Hwang has written a play that speaks to the experience of those conflicted with the past and future.

Ah, the plot thickens when the Christian reverend comes into the picture. The wives plot against each other for their shared husband by manipulating and influencing the reverend and using the 1st wife’s Golden Child. Change comes with consequences.

I’m enjoying this and given that it’s a short read, I’ll probably finish this by the end of the day. It helps to have a well-written play form the guy who wrote M. Butterfly. At least this play has structure and you know what’s going on. Did struggle with identifying which wife was which initially.

To my knowledge, Hwang, a Chinese-American, seems to be very respectful in the portrayal of his ancestor’s lives. He is of the well-intentioned and well-meaning, clearly interested in culture clash and what that does to a family on the brink of change.

The wives bicker and conflict with one another, but all try to please and uphold tradition for their husband’s sake. Yet it is odd that husband has embraced change while his wives do not. The Golden Child refers to the husband and his 1st wife’s daughter, who is at the heart of this change.

This is an engaging play so far. The ideas and themes being discussed here: Oriental vs Occidental, tradition vs modern, past vs future. It’s a play about a family in early 20th century China. The patriarch has embraced the West while his three wives are part of old Chinese tradition.

Looking forward to reading this. Bought this at my local library for a buck because I'm familiar with the playwright. He wrote M. Butterfly, but I figured this will do. Reading a play from another cultural perspective and point of view should be interesting and insightful. We'll see. Let's hope so.