‘Chinglish’ comedy examines culture clash in China

Tony and Obie Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang of “M. Butterfly” brought his bilingual, culture-clashing comedy “Chinglish” to the Lyric Stage Company on Dec. 2.

An Interview with Mildred Wong

What was it like growing up as an Asina-American in the United States?
Fortunately, I can say that as an Asian American growing up in Boston, I have never been teased with degrading names or insults. No blond-haired, blue-eyed boy in my first grade class ever pulled his eyes at the corners, slanted them, and ridiculed me. At Boston Latin School, at least 45 percent of the students were Asian American, which made us much more a majority than a “minority.” Extreme racial slurs and blatant prejudice are as foreign to me as soy sauce on ice cream. As a contemporary Chinese-American, I have never been hassled, unless bad pickup lines count. “Hey baby, ni hao ma?” is not an effective pickup line.