Events

On Friday, April 17, at 8 pm, the Public Theater will host a live virtual listening party to celebrate the release of the cast album recording of “Soft Power,” the musical-in-a-play by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori. Funds will be raised to support AALDEF and the Public Theater at this listening party.

“Soft Power,” which had its New York premiere at the Public Theater last year, explores race, cultural identity, and America’s current place in the world. The New York Times calls it “a political allegory, a crazy romance (involving Hillary Clinton) and a gleeful riposte to ‘The King and I.’ Using clever pastiche and paradox to question American assumptions of supremacy, it is always working on many levels.” The New Yorker wrote that “[Hwang] affirms the things that could make America good again: care, compassion, mutual respect.”

AALDEF hosted a Soft Power" theater party and talkback with David Henry Hwang last October. The play is especially relevant now in this Covid-19 era, as the racist term “Chinese virus” has been linked to the rise in anti-Asian violence and engenders confusion between Chinese nationals and Asian Americans of all ethnic backgrounds..

Support AALDEF at the “Soft Power” listening party on Public Theater’s YouTube channel. (You can also pre-order the album here.) Join us on Friday night at 8 pm!