Sound and Beauty is the omnibus title of two plays by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 David Henry Hwang

David Henry Hwang

David Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...

. Hwang's fourth play, The House of Sleeping Beauties

The House of Sleeping Beauties

The House of Sleeping Beauties is a 1983 play by American playwright David Henry Hwang. Hwang's fourth play, it is an adaptation of Yasunari Kawabata's novella House of the Sleeping Beauties. The play depicts Kawabata and how he might have come to have written the novella...

, was adapted from Yasunari Kawabata

Yasunari Kawabata

was a Japanese short story writer and novelist whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award...

's novella House of the Sleeping Beauties

The House of the Sleeping Beauties

House of the Sleeping Beauties is a novella by Nobel Prize winning author Yasunari Kawabata.A story about a lonely man, Old Eguchi continuously visits the House of the Sleeping Beauties in hopes of something more....

. It tells the story of the narrator of that novella investigating the brothel that inspired the work. His fifth play, The Sound of a Voice

The Sound of a Voice

The Sound of a Voice is a 1983 play by American playwright David Henry Hwang. Hwang's fifth play, it is an original ghost story inspired by Japanese folk stories, films, and Noh theater. The play was first produced as part of the production Sound and Beauty on November 6, 1983 Off-Broadway at the...

, is a ghost story inspired by Japanese films and folk tales. The one-act plays were produced together and premiered on November 6, 1983 Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. It was directed by John Lone

John Lone

John "Johnny" Lone is a Hong Kong born American actor of Chinese and English descent. Lone has played roles as diverse as a caveman in Iceman , the last Emperor of China in The Last Emperor , and an apparently female opera performer in M. Butterfly .-Personal life:Lone was born as Ng Kwok-leung...

, with Lone and Victor Wong

Victor Wong

Victor Wong was a Chinese American character actor who appeared in supporting roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s.-Education:...

.

The Sound of a Voice was later adapted into an opera

The Sound of a Voice (opera)

The Sound of a Voice is a 2003 operatic adaptation of the play The Sound of a Voice by American playwright David Henry Hwang. The music is written by composer Philip Glass and the libretto is written by Hwang. The opera is actually made up of two short operas-- The Sound of a Voice and Hotel of...

 with libretto by Hwang and music by Philip Glass

Philip Glass

Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...

 and as a film-- Sound of a Voice

Sound of a Voice

Sound of a Voice is a 2002 short film based upon the play The Sound of a Voice by American playwright David Henry Hwang. Susan Hoffman directed the film while participating in the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women 2002....

, directed by Susan Hoffman and written by Lane Nishikawa

Lane Nishikawa

Lane Nishikawa is an American actor, filmmaker, playwright and performance artist. He is Sansei ; and his work often deals with Asian American history and identity issues. He is widely known for a series of one-man shows, including Life in the Fast Lane, I'm on a Mission From Buddha, Mifune and...

 and Natsuko Ohama.

The two plays are published as part of Trying to Find Chinatown: The Selected Plays by Theatre Communications Group

Theatre Communications Group

Theatre Communications Group is an organization dedicated to the promotion of non-profit professional theatre in the United States. TCG has over 450 member theatres located in 47 states; 17,000 individual members; and a growing number of University, Funder, Business and Trustee Affiliates...

 and also in an acting editions published separately by Dramatists Play Service

Dramatists Play Service

Established in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild and the Society for Authors' Representatives, Dramatists Play Service, Inc. is a theatrical publishing and licensing house...

.