It rankles when non-Asian actors are cast as Asians, yet you needn’t be Scottish to play Macbeth. How to reconcile these two ideas? David Henry Hwang takes up the question with wit, warmth and insight. Perhaps best known for his play M Butterfly, he co-wrote the musical Aida and is a staff writer on the TV series The Affair. We talk about casting, culture and his days in the jazz-fusion band Pastel – ah, the seventies! – in this episode recorded at the Museum of Chinese in America with music from Jack Hsu.

(photo by Devin Knight)

•  PERSON: Joe Papp
•  PLACE: East West Players
•  THING: an electric violin
•  RANDY’S THING: Victoria Magazine