⋙ Libro M Butterfly Acting Edition for Theater Productions David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang 9780822207122 Books

M Butterfly Acting Edition for Theater Productions David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang 9780822207122 Books

Download As PDF : M Butterfly Acting Edition for Theater Productions David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang 9780822207122 Books

M Butterfly Acting Edition for Theater Productions David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang 9780822207122 Books

Written by David Henry Hwang, M. BUTTERFLY opened on Broadway in 1988 and played over seven hundred performances before closing in 1990.

Casting is demanding. The play requires four actors, one of whom must be Asian, sing well, and convincing impersonate a woman; three women; and three male dancers who can perform traditional Chinese theatre dance. The Asian actor and one of the women appear nude in the play, and while the woman’s nudity may be more implied than literal, it is difficult to imagine how the male nudity (which is briefly frontal) can be avoided. The set is equally demanding. The play is written in three acts. Each act contains multiple scenes that occur in different locations at different points between 1966 and 1988, and the set must be able to support rapid shifts in time and place.

M. BUTTERFLY is an extremely complex script that operates on several different levels. In one sense, it is a view of the culture clash between east and west; in another sense, it makes a statement on gender roles and the perception of gender, and the multiple ways in which gender can be exploited. The play draws heavily from the Puccini opera MADAME BUTTERFLY, which tells the story of a Japanese geisha who commits suicide when her American husband abandons her, but the play ultimately inverts these roles. The play also draws heavily from the espionage scandal of real-life French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and his lover, Chinese opera singer Shi Pei Pu, who used their relationship to pass secret information to the Chinese government during the Vietnam War.

It is difficult to discuss the play without revealing the plot devices which make the play so intriguing. Although the espionage element drives the plot, the play is actually more concerned with the way in which people deceive themselves about each other, and how that delusion can operate in even the most physically intimate relationships. We are not always who we think we are, and the people around us are not always who they seem to be. Given the difficulties of casting and set, I think the play is very unlikely to be seen in a community theatre or educational (college, university) theatre; it requires access to a talent pool that few such theatres have.

Plays are written to be seen, not read, and M. BUTTERFLY is a case in point. It is very, very difficult to read this script and imagine how it was staged in your head. Act One reads rather slow, and Act Two and Three seem better written in a literary sense, but this does not necessarily have a relation to how the script actually performs in front a live audience. I think this is a script best left to people who are knowledgeable about theatre. Recommended even so.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer


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M Butterfly Acting Edition for Theater Productions David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang 9780822207122 Books Reviews

Wow, this might be the best play I've ever read. The exposition is phenomenal, the unique stage directions really making you vividly imagine the play. Don't watch the Jeremy Irons movie and say you read it if this is for a class, the movie is awful ESPECIALLY compared to this awesome book. It really brings to light the harmful/incorrect nature of orientalism and you see this stereotype (as in, the Asian woman being submissive and modest) come to bite the protagonist in the butt in the end. Very interesting read, I don't know much about the Vietnam War or anything in this era but I understood everything I was reading and couldn't put it down. You won't regret reading this!
I have read both the original version and Broadway version and I definitely prefer the new version. The narrative is woven together better and it uses more facts from the real case to tie this story together better.

As a story, what more needs to be said? This is a beautiful and breathtaking work, based off a fantastical real life situation that Hwang helps us understand and give context to using this play. Gallimard is a wonderfully complex characters, simultaneously aware of the imbalanced power dynamics that brought him into this situation but unable to stop himself from taking advantage once he has it. Song Liling both exemplifies the sensuality of the ideal of the female gender while also showing how fragile and manufactured it is. The butterfly twist at the end was amazing. Both are characters trying to navigate and triumph in society's strict gender roles as well as play roles in the global power struggles between China and the western world in that time, and it's a great human perspective on this part of history.

For those of you who want to see a modern nan dan/Song Liling (minus the political subterfuge), please go check out Li Yu Gang on youtube. Although he has not had proper Chinese opera training, he's succeeded in portraying the idea Chinese beauty, the pinnacle of womanhood, and he's constantly praised for being beautiful in costume and in his beautiful, feminine, singing voice. I kept picturing him the whole time I read this play.
I read David Henry Hwang's "Yellowface" first. And I loved it. It is a brilliant play that does a great job discussing race and discussing the discussions of race. Fabulous.

I decided to read the play that put Mr. Hwang on the map the 1988 Tony award winning "M Butterly." It's ok. There are some good moments and a few interesting observations and funny lines. The movie "The Crying Game" came out a few years after this play, and even though I never saw it, it seemed like everyone talked about it and knew what happened. "The Crying Game" obviously took some plot points (the main one) from "M Butterfly," but with a key difference. The reader/audience knows what is happening for most of the time in "M Butterfly, " while the end of "The Crying Game" was a shock.

It was nominated for the Pulitzer in 1989 but lost to "The Heidi Chronicles," a better play. "The Piano Lesson" was also nominated that year but lost. Strangely, "The Piano Lesson" won in 1990. I digress. This is a good play. The Tony Award seems like a bit much, but I'm looking at it from 30 years in the future.

Go read "Yellowface." It's great. Far better than this.
Written by David Henry Hwang, M. BUTTERFLY opened on Broadway in 1988 and played over seven hundred performances before closing in 1990.

Casting is demanding. The play requires four actors, one of whom must be Asian, sing well, and convincing impersonate a woman; three women; and three male dancers who can perform traditional Chinese theatre dance. The Asian actor and one of the women appear nude in the play, and while the woman’s nudity may be more implied than literal, it is difficult to imagine how the male nudity (which is briefly frontal) can be avoided. The set is equally demanding. The play is written in three acts. Each act contains multiple scenes that occur in different locations at different points between 1966 and 1988, and the set must be able to support rapid shifts in time and place.

M. BUTTERFLY is an extremely complex script that operates on several different levels. In one sense, it is a view of the culture clash between east and west; in another sense, it makes a statement on gender roles and the perception of gender, and the multiple ways in which gender can be exploited. The play draws heavily from the Puccini opera MADAME BUTTERFLY, which tells the story of a Japanese geisha who commits suicide when her American husband abandons her, but the play ultimately inverts these roles. The play also draws heavily from the espionage scandal of real-life French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and his lover, Chinese opera singer Shi Pei Pu, who used their relationship to pass secret information to the Chinese government during the Vietnam War.

It is difficult to discuss the play without revealing the plot devices which make the play so intriguing. Although the espionage element drives the plot, the play is actually more concerned with the way in which people deceive themselves about each other, and how that delusion can operate in even the most physically intimate relationships. We are not always who we think we are, and the people around us are not always who they seem to be. Given the difficulties of casting and set, I think the play is very unlikely to be seen in a community theatre or educational (college, university) theatre; it requires access to a talent pool that few such theatres have.

Plays are written to be seen, not read, and M. BUTTERFLY is a case in point. It is very, very difficult to read this script and imagine how it was staged in your head. Act One reads rather slow, and Act Two and Three seem better written in a literary sense, but this does not necessarily have a relation to how the script actually performs in front a live audience. I think this is a script best left to people who are knowledgeable about theatre. Recommended even so.

GFT, Reviewer