The Alluring M. Butterfly
An unbelievable true tale about love and lies
Thirty years after its Broadway premiere starring BD Wong and John Lithgow, the spectacular Tony-winning play, M. Butterfly returns to the Great White Way with an update by its playwright David Henry Hwang. Based on the unbelievably strange but true story of the affair between a French diplomat and a mysterious Chinese opera singer, the revised story reveals new facts about the real-life couple, Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu, that were not available when Hwang first wrote the play.
Under the direction of Broadway vet, Julie Taymor, the new production stars the handsome Clive Owen as the tortured, Madam Butterfly obsessed, diplomat René Gallimard and Jin Ha as the secretive opera singer. Espionage and intrigue surround this story of illicit love set during the Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in China and before the Vietnam War. As René struggles to balance his marriage, his affair, and his job during the tumultuous era, everything begins to fall apart. To reveal anything more would be criminal, as the hidden truth is what makes this play so pertinent. Just know, it’s an amazing story that will never age.
In 1993, director David Cronenberg cast his favorite actor, Jeremy Irons as the Puccini opera-loving René and Chinese superstar, John Lone as his lover, Song. It’s a gorgeous film and a good substitute if Broadway is not in your neighborhood.
