David Henry Hwang. Born in Los Angeles, California, Hwang attended Stanford, where his first play FOB was produced. His other stage works include M. Butterfly, Yellow Face, and Chinglish. As the son of two Chinese immigrants, Hwang spent much of his early career examining the role of Chinese Americans and Asian Americans in the contemporary world. He is a Tony Award Winner and three-time nominee, Grammy Award Winner and two-time nominee, and a three-time Finalist in the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. He is now a Professor of Theatre and Playwriting at the Columbia University School of Arts.

Family Devotions premiered in October of 1981 ran until August of 1982 Off-Broadway at the Joseph Papp Public theater and was directed by Robert Allan Ackerman. It was nominated in 1982 for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.Family Devotions premiered in October of 1981 ran until August of 1982 Off-Broadway at the Joseph Papp Public theater and was directed by Robert Allan Ackerman. It was nominated in 1982 for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.

The haunting and absurdist story of a Chinese-American family reunited. After years of estrangement, devoutly Christian sisters, Ama and Popo, reconnect with their communist brother, Di-Gou, in a charged family gathering. In a perfect storm of three generations worth of conflict and an afternoon of family prayer, chaos ensues. David Henry Hwang’s Family Devotions deals with the issues of familial conflict, religious hypocrisy, immigration, assimilation, and the struggle between America and China. In an honest critique of the clash between Western and Eastern culture, Hwang brings this Chinese American family to life. Both challenging and hilarious, Hwang’s words strike a chord with audiences everywhere.

From A History of Asian American​​ Theatre by Esther Kim Lee:

1965–1968

East West Players in Los Angeles is founded by Mako, Rae Creevey, James Hong, June K. Lu, Guy Lee, Pat Li, Yet Lock, Soon-Tek Oh, and Beulah Quo; East West Players received a $38,500 grant from the Ford Foundation; Oriental Actors of America, an activist group formed by actors in NYC

1970–1979

Ellen Stewart supports the establishment of La MaMa Chinatown lead by Ching Yeh; Asian American Theatre Workshop, led by Frank Chin, is established as part of the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, Asian Multi Media Center in Seattle begins as an acting group and receives a $14,500 grant from Washington State Arts Commision; Chinese Theatre Group is formed as a workshop in LaMaMa Experimental Theatre Club in NYC; Pacific Overtures, a musical by Stephen Sondheim, debuts on Broadway with all-Asian American cast; Third World Theatre is founded by Roberta Uno

1980–1981

David Henry Hwang’s FOB premieres at the Public Theatre in NYC; Hwang’s Family Devotions premieres at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre

Dr. Monica Palmer is the Dean of Faculty and teaches acting. Formerly the Director of Fine and Performing Arts at Lake Forest Academy, she has taught theater and directing at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Virginia Commonwealth University, Barnard College, and the Madeira School in McLean, Virginia. Monica holds a B.A. in Theater from the University of California at Santa Barbara, an M.F.A. in Theater from Columbia University, an M.Ed. from Teachers College at Columbia University, and the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.

Joe Repczynski is in his 20th year as Technical Theater Director at the Academy and teaches Carpentry for Theater and Lighting and Sound Design. Thanks to a travel grant from the Academy, he and his wife, Radmila, went on a mini-opera tour in Europe in August getting backstage tours at the Bregenz Festival (Bregenz, Austria), the La Scala Opera House (Milan, IT), and the Roman Coliseum (Verona, IT) where they also got to see productions of Rigoletto and Aida. In his “free time”, Joe continues to work professionally throughout New England as an IATSE stagehand, and this year worked in the electrical departments for several feature films including Little Women (Gretta Gerwig), a movie pilot of Wrong Mans (James Cordon), The Bachelor “Winter Games”, and Hubie Halloween (Adam Sandler/Allen Covert).

Bonniejean Wilbur is an actress, director, costumer and improv teacher. She began her love of theater playing the lead in her first grade anti pollution protest play(it was1968). She has a BA in theater arts from Hampshire College. Bonniejean works predominantly with Theater in the Open in Newburyport, along side her husband Paul Wann.

Emma Dawson is incredibly excited to be a part of the production team in Family Devotions. She has participated in the Winter Musical for the past three years, playing parts including Fester in The Addams Family. She has enjoyed trying a different aspect of the production process and is grateful to the production team, cast, and crew for helping her learn. She is so proud of the work everyone has done.

Katherine Chung '25 is excited to learn about the process of putting on a play as it is her first time being part of a production. She has always been a fan of plays, shows, and musicals, and is grateful for the opportunity to start her drama career at The Governor's Academy. She acquired skills of organization along with responsibility, through communicating with actors and the technical theater team. She was able to build meaningful relationships with the cast and directors.

Avery Colgate is elated to be in their debut show at The Governor's Academy. They are excited to work with the cast and crew and gain a better understanding of a technical position in theater. They would like to thank Dr. Palmer, Mr. Rep, and all the cast and crew for all the hard work to make this show amazing.