M butterfly broadway cast

Bernard boursicot
M butterfly true story
M butterfly sparknotes

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A French diplomat who is on assignment in Beijing. He desires a relationship similar to the one depicted in the opera Madame Butterfly, between Pinkerton and the submissive Madame Butterfly. He falls deeply in love with Song's performance of Madame Butterfly, and begins a relationship with her. Having been unlucky in love and described as a "wimp" by many people, Gallimard is eager to find someone he can dominate. To him, Song is the perfect woman, completely demure and willing to be submissive to him. Even after Song's deception is publicly revealed to him, Gallimard is unable to accept that his perfect woman is "just a man," dons the costume of Butterfly himself, and commits ritual suicide.

A Chinese actor who plays the role of the dan (the female) in Chinese opera. He manipulates Gallimard's affections in order to act as a spy for the Communist Party in China. After he is denounced in court as a man as well as a spy, Song is rejected by Gallimard as well. Song conceives of his entire performance as the "perfect woman" for Gallimard as a kind of acting job, but it is unclear

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Rene Gallimard (died 1986) was a French civil servant who, in 1986, was charged with espionage after a 26-year-long affair with Chinese Beijing Opera singer Song Liling (a cross-dressing man, unbeknownst to Gallimard) led to Gallimard passing on classified information to Song, who then sent it to the Chinese embassy. Gallimard committed seppuku due to his feelings of betrayal and anger towards Song, whom he mistakenly believed was the "perfect woman".

Biography[]

Rene Gallimard was a French civil servant who worked as an accountant for ambassador Manuel Toulon in Beijing, China during the 1960s, and he brought his wife Helga with him. In 1960, he met Beijing Opera performer Song Liling at a performance of Madame Butterfly - unaware that Song, like all other actors playing female roles in traditional Beijing Opera, was a woman - and fell in love with him after having a conversation about Song's performance of such an imperialist play. They had a weekly courtship, with Gallimard meeting Song for 15-20 minute sessions. Later in 1960, Toulon made hi

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M. Butterfly (film)

1993 American romantic drama film

This article is about the Cronenberg film. For other uses, see Madame Butterfly (disambiguation).

M. Butterfly is a 1993 American romanticdrama film directed by David Cronenberg and written by David Henry Hwang based on his 1988 play. The film stars Jeremy Irons and John Lone, with Ian Richardson, Barbara Sukowa, and Annabel Leventon. The story is loosely based on true events which involved French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Chinese opera singer Shi Pei Pu.

Plot

René Gallimard is a French diplomat assigned to Beijing, China in the 1960s. He becomes infatuated with a Peking opera performer, Song Liling, who spies on him for the government of the People's Republic of China. Their affair lasts for 20 years, and they subsequently marry, with Gallimard all the while apparently unaware, or willfully ignorant, of the fact that in Peking opera Dan roles were traditionally performed by men.

Cast

Production

David Henry Hwang's play M. Butterfly, based on the relationship between Bernard Bour