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M. Butterfly
User Rating: 3 (2 votes)Author(s):
David Henry Hwang
Bored with his routine posting in Beijing, and awkward with women, Rene Gallimard, a French diplomat, is easy prey for the subtle, delicate charms of Song Liling, a Chinese opera star who personifies Gallimard's fantasy vision of submissive, exotic oriental sexuality. He begins an affair with "her" which lasts for twenty years, during which time he passes along diplomatic secrets, an act which, eventually, brings on his downfall and imprisonment. Interspersed with scenes between the two lovers are others with Gallimard's wife and colleagues, which underscore the irony of Gallimard's delusion and its curious parallel to the events of Puccini's famous opera Madame Butterfly. Combining realism and ritual with vivid theatricality, the play reaches its astonishing climax when Song Liling, before our very eyes, strips off his female attire and assumes his true masculinity--a revelation which the deluded Gallimard can neither credit nor accept and which drives him finally--and fatally--deep within the fantasy with which, over the years, he has held the truth at bay.
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| Genre(s): | Drama
| | Time Period(s): | Not Available | | Play Type: | Play | | Runtime: | Not Available | | Acts: | Not Available | | Set Complexity: | Not Available | | Set Information: | Not Available | | Year First Published: | Not Available | | Total Characters: | 10 | | Male Characters: | 7 | | Female Characters: | 3 | | Androgynous Characters: | Not Available | | Minimum Cast: | Not Available | | Maximum Cast: | Not Available | | Cost: | FEE: $60 per performance. SPECIAL NOTE: A cassette tape with cue sheet (#3006CS) of the original music composed by Lucia Hwong for the New York production is available through the Play Service for $50.00. The fee for use of this music is $10.00 per performance
Royalty/cost information prone to change.
Please check with the publisher for the most accurate information. | | Publisher: | Dramatists Play Service
Click on the publisher's name above for additional information, including updated prices. | | ISBN: | Not Available |
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