Leigh Silverman (Well) will direct the play, which will emerge in June 2011. Hwang's plays include M. Butterfly (a Pulitzer finalist that won the Best Play Tony Award), Golden Child, FOB, Yellow Face and the musicals Aida, Tarzan and the revised Flower Drum Song.
Chinglish will be produced in association with The Public Theater of New York City. A spokesperson for The Public told Playbill.com, "We have been developing Chinglish for quite awhile and it will eventually have a home at The Public Theater."
Director Silverman last collaborated with Hwang on the world premiere of his play Yellow Face.
The addition of Chinglish brings the total number of world premieres to four of six previously announced productions in the Goodman's upcoming season. Two plays in the 2010-11 season are still to be announced.
Hwang said in a statement, "When I finished writing Chinglish, my dream was to premiere it at the Goodman, one of America's flagship theatres, in Chicago, a theatre city second to none in the world. I believe this story of an American businessman in contemporary China will resonate in the Midwest, whose economic and cultural ties to Asia have multiplied rapidly in recent decades."
Hwang and Goodman artistic director Robert Falls worked together on the musical Aida a decade ago.
Here's how Goodman characterizes Chinglish: "When American businessman Daniel arrives in China hoping to make an important deal, he finds himself enmeshed in a system that he doesn't understand — and is more complex than he ever imagined."
For information, visit gooodmantheatre.org.