SOURCE: Sun, William H. and Faye C. Fei. “Masks of Faces Re-Visited: A Study of Four Theatrical Works Concerning Cultural Identity.” Drama Review 38, no. 4 (winter 1994): 120-32.

In the following excerpt, Sun and Fei provide a mixed assessment of Face Value. Although they appreciate the ideology behind the painted faces of the cross-cast actors, they find that Hwang seems torn between a rigid classification of race and raceless humanity, making the play harder to understand and interpret.

“Masks or Faces” is a phrase William Archer used to title his 1888 book on the psychology of the actor. His Ibsenian argument, that emotion and passion genuinely change the actor's face, left little room for the metaphorical mask, let alone real masks onstage. Nowadays, although the literal use of real masks, or faces with masklike makeup, have become commonplace, the emphasis has shifted to the psychology of characters and the social and...