An independent show guide not a venue or show. All tickets 100% guaranteed, some are resale, prices may be above face value. We're an independent show guide not a venue or show. We sell primary, discount and resale tickets, all 100% guaranteed prices may be above face value. We are an independent show guide not a venue or show. We sell primary, discount and resale tickets, all 100% guaranteed and they may be priced above or below face value.

M. Butterfly / our review

FASCINATING different Mesmerizing

Jun 6th, 2017

Josephine Knight

Josephine Knight

M. Butterfly: Taking flight on Broadway

Fun Fact: Miss Saigon, M. Butterfly and the opera Madame Butterfly will all play simultaneously this year in New York City, each production can be traced back to the short story written by American lawyer and writer John Luther Long, published in 1898. The story inspired David Belasco to write a one act play, which inspired Puccini to write his opera. Puccini's opera then inspired Schönberg and Boubil to create the musical Miss Saigon as well as Hwang's 1988 Tony Award-winning play.

Target Audience: M. Butterfly is a fascinating account of cultural differences between East and West while exposing the root of humanity. Hwang's play is relevant and offers snippets of the elaborate Chinese opera along with intricacies of a complicated relationship. Throw in the star-studded actor Clive Owen and you have a recipe for success!

Best Bit: Jin Ha is making his Broadway debut in the multifaceted role of Song Liling and his portrayal is mesmerizing! The final exchange between Ha and Owen takes place on a bare stage with tall walls surrounding them, their intensity had the entire audience captivated. I couldn't help but think of our Western representative Donald Trump and his Eastern rival Kim Jong Un. Just as Ha and Owen stood on a bare stage face to face, one man to another, we have to ask what are they really fighting for?

Morning After Effect: It is remarkable that there is still animosity between East and West. As we waiver on the constant fear of war and peace, Hwang's play highlights the delicate strength of man which can be seen in those with great power.

Verdict: M. Butterfly is a story that will stay with me forever. I feel truly honored to have seen Clive Owen on Broadway and witness the flight of Jin Ha.


*NOTE: May contain a spoiler-alert for some regarding Song Liling's character

David Henry Hwang's Tony Award-winning play, M. Butterfly is back on Broadway after 29 years. Hwang's play has the audience flutter alongside the fantasy world of the Chinese Opera, a love affair between the diva and an adoring French diplomat, and their present tell-tale account of it all. When you observe the movement of a butterfly it is sporadic, unpredictable and mesmerizing to watch. Hwang's writing reflects this erratic behavior as we move in and out of these intertwining worlds. Hwang, born in Los Angeles, writes about Asian-American and Chinese-American stories that are concerned with the role of these cultures in modern America. He refers to his most successful plays as the "Trilogy of Chinese America".

Clive Owen plays Rene Gallimard, a married French diplomat transfixed by the opera and particularly the star of the show, Song Liling, played by Jin Ha. Gallimard finds himself drawn to the opera and intrigued by the compelling conversation and cultural exchange with Liling. Perhaps, the ultimate lure is the ability to get lost in the fantasy and escape their reality - the play is set in Paris in 1988. Gallimard is a challenging role to play as he is an adulterer pushing against culture boundaries and finds himself in a web of deceit and denial, and yet the audience needs to understand his loneliness, his compassion, curiosity and humanity. Gallimard is a prisoner of his world and his mind. If you see him as merely a philandering pig you miss the point of the story entirely thus the pendulum needs to swing evenly between the likeability of Gallimard and Liling.

Owen delivers an incredible performance as he guides us through his journey of complicated emotions, enticing questions of truth vs illusion, power vs strength, masculinity vs femininity, war vs peace, love vs hate, and finally life vs death. Owen is effortless, gentle in fact and his superb portrayal of Gallimard presents a neutrality from which we are left pondering - do we need to choose a side at all?

For some actors being a triple threat is a gift. Jin Ha makes his Broadway debut not only singing, dancing and acting but he switches between two genders! Ha is tender as he plays a man masquerading as a woman, never frantic between the shifts but rather fluid, soft and seamless. One moment Ha appears to be delicate and fragile and yet in an instant he is strong and hardened. He exudes beauty and brutality leaving the audience utterly torn. His final moments on stage had my brain short circuiting between his sexuality and humanity. Cocooned in a gorgeous white silk robe Liling tortures Gallimard to the end or it is Gallimard that tortured him? Liling is innocent, cruel, sensual and powerful. B.D. Wong originated the role in 1988 for which he won a Tony, my guess is Ha will be a strong contender for his commitment to this role.

Director, Julie Taymor has brought a sensuality and beauty to this revival. Juxtaposing bold bright sets and stark grey backdrops creates a rollercoaster of emotions. Julie Taymor and Scenic Designer Paul Steinberg worked together to create the illusion of a Chinese puzzle box using large transformational screens. Taymor is best known as the first female director to win a Tony for Best Direction of a Musical for The Lion King. M. Butterfly is on a much smaller scale to the big musical but she has brought a femininity to Hwang's writing that can appear soft and tender in one moment and then monumental in the next.

Hwang's play offers commentary on topical issues and one of his stand out lines is Liling explaining why men play the woman in the Chinese opera, "...because a man knows how a woman should act", there is also the puzzling notion that the Western world imposes its way, its masculinity, on the East seeing Asia as a "delicate flower that we want to put in a vase". Sadly, Liling and Gallimard give each other the impression that their love-affair is founded on truth and yet we know neither of them are entirely truthful resulting in a great betrayal.

Perhaps Hwang's play is begging us to come out of our cocoons and reflect on the balance, truth, and trust of the East and West, Male and Female, as we would the wings of a butterfly where both sides mirror each other and move in synchronicity.

View our show pages for more information about M. Butterfly, Cort Theater.

M Butterfly, Cort Theater, New York

M. Butterfly

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Cort Theater: Closed Jan 14, 2018

M. Butterfly tells the amazing story of the spy scandal that rocked 1980's France. This complex and engaging play, which won three Tonys in 1988, tracks the affair between an French diplomat (played by...more info

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