M. Butterfly’s enigmatic mystique lives on

M. Butterfly is inspired by Giacomo Puccini’s 1904 tragic opera, Madama Butterfly (which also inspired the equally successful musical Miss Saigon). It is also loosely based on the real-life tragic spy love affair between Beijing opera singer Shei Pei Pu and French diplomat Bernard Bouriscot, who, for two decades, believed that Shei Pei Pu was a she.

MANILA, Philippines — Thirty years after its initial staging on Broadway, David Henry Hwang’s gripping Tony-winning play M. Butterfly continues to shock with its utterly absurd plot centering on espionage and betrayal, as well as gender roles and race relations.

At a full house Maybank Performing Arts Theater at the BGC in Taguig City last Sept. 22, not a few theatergoers experienced the provocative play for the first time. They witnessed the doomed romance between Beijing opera singer Song Liling and French diplomat Rene Gallimard, who would stay clueless for 20 years that his beloved Chinese mistress is actually a communist spy and a man.

M. Butterfly is inspired by Giacomo Puccini’s 1904 tragic opera, Madama Butterfly (which also inspired the equally successful musical Miss Saigon). It is also loosely based on the real-life tragic spy love affair between Beijing opera singer Shei Pei Pu and French diplomat Bernard Bouriscot, who, for two decades, believed that Shei Pei Pu was a she.

Directed by Kanakan-Balintagos and produced by Grammy and Tony-winning producer Jhett Tolentino and Frontrow Entertainment, the Manila production design doesn’t have the visual spectacle of Miss Saigon. But the lavish costumes and make-up, as well as excellent lighting and music, make amends for the set’s aesthetic shortcomings.

RS Francisco reprises the role of Song Liling that made him the toast of Philippine theater in 1990 when he was only 18. We missed that celebrated performance but it was hailed by both critics and audiences as mesmerizing.

In his latest incarnation as Liling, RS — with his svelte frame, graceful movements and soft feminine voice — is dazzling (and seductive) as an attractive and modest woman working for the Mao regime and collecting valuable secrets from her unsuspecting Parisian lover diplomat, Rene Gallimard, about the Vietnam War.

  RS Francisco (left) and Olivier Borten star in David Henry Hwang’s Tony-winning play.

RS manages to pull off the irresistible charm and mystique the role requires. He even displays bravery for stripping down to his birthday suit, giving the audience a glimpse of his flaccid genitalia and a full view of his behind during the much-anticipated revelation scene.

It’s tempting to say that RS single-handedly carries the whole play on his shoulders, but it’s impossible to ignore the laudable input of the whole cast including French actor Olivier Borten (Gallimard), Pinky Amador (Helga), Norman McLeod (Manuel Toulon), Lee O’Brian (Marc), Rica Nepomuceno (opera singer), Maya Encila (Renee/Pin-Up Girl) and the delightful Mayen Estanero in her show-stopping performance Comrade Chin.

Olivier gives a passionate performance as Gallimard, but somehow lacks the oomph RS brings on stage. With his plump physique and regular Caucasian looks, he is quite convincing as the low-level French diplomat, who is married but lonely and insecure around women.

Becoming infatuated with Liling, who is famous for her performance in Madama Butterfly at the Chinese opera house, Gallimard finds himself wrapped up in his fantasy of Liling being the “perfect woman” of his dreams — unaware that all female roles in traditional Chinese opera were actually played by males. He only discovered the true gender and motive of his beloved “butterfly” when he was charged and later convicted of treason by the French government 20 years later.

How Liling manipulated Gallimard into believing they are having actual sexual intercourse while literally keeping his male anatomy a secret from the man he slept with for so many years may sound preposterous, but it only highlights the enigmatic appeal of M. Butterfly.

The play runs until Sept. 30 at Maybank Performing Arts Center on 26th St. cor. 9th Ave. at the Bonifacio Global City. For tickets, visit TicketWorld.com.ph