Shoreline Actor Moses Yim Making Mark in Seattle Theater

Patch recently attended a play by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, called Yellow Face at the Richard Hugo House Theatre in Seattle.  After, Patch spoke to the lead character played by Moses Yim.  Yim is a 2002 Shorewood High School graduate and has been a member of the drama department at Shorewood and Shoreline Community College. Yellow Face was co-produced by Roger Tang who also lives in Shoreline. 

Q:  What other productions have you been in since graduating from Shorewood? 

Moses Yim:  I am relatively new to the scene.  I had small roles in a few plays.  We did some community theatre like “Fiddler on The Roof” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at Shoreline Community College.  After “Fiddler on the Roof” someone suggested I try out for “Sex in Seattle.”  I got the part and had a role in “Sex in Seattle.” At the time, I was 19 years old and I couldn’t go out after the show to celebrate with the rest of the cast.  I was a little baby back then.  Years later, I did episode 7 of “Sex in Seattle.”  After that I took some time to get away from acting because I was self-conscious about it.  I liked acting but I was really hard on myself.  

Later, I met Kathy Hsieh who introduced me to her brother, David.  David is the director of Yellow Face, he is associated with ReAct Theatre of Seattle. After, I did some stage readings with David Hsieh, kind of like story telling.    In these stage readings, I played the part of Henry Vu’s character, David Henry Hwang’s father, Henry Hwang.  From there, I played the lead as David Henry Hwang, the playright.   I never played the lead before and it was a rather daunting task.  Thankfully, it worked out.

Q:  What do you think of this role in Yellow Face?  You are playing a playwright, David Henry Hwang.

Moses Yim:  Yes, Hwang actually came to the show two weeks ago.  That was pretty nerve wracking for me.  Interesting enough, much of the play you saw tonight was factually true.  What you saw on stage tonight did happen in real life … at least this is what we were told by Hwang himself. 

 Q:  Tell us more about yourself.

 Moses Yim:  I am 100 percent Korean.  My parents were immigrants and I was born here.  We grew up in Lake City area.  I love Korean food.  This is going to sound biased but I think my cousin’s restaurant in the U-district about 42^nd and Brooklyn is the best Korean food in town. It is called Myung Dong also known as Korean Tofu House. 

I lived with my biological aunt for some time then I lived with my biological dad.  About the time I was in 8^th grade, due to different circumstances I was adopted by a Scandinavian family -- it was kind of a weird situation.    

These days, I am working at Wedgwood Elementary  and I am taking some journalism classes at Shoreline CC. 

I have another show coming up called “Year Zero.”  I play a 16-year old Cambodian kid named Vuthy who lives in Long Beach, Calif.  It is a play about a Cambodian kid who is part of an immigrant family searching for their place in America while attempting to uphold their parents legacy.  Year Zero will run from Friday, September 30 through Saturday, October 22^nd at The Richard Hugo House in Seattle.