• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Politics
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Gay Pride
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Men
  • Space
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Monkeypox
  • Film/TV

Julie Taymor Directs Clive Owen in Stylish but Earthbound ‘M. Butterfly’ on Broadway: REVIEW

Naveen Kumar October 27, 2017 Leave a Comment

julie taymor m butterfly

When David Henry Hwang’s modern riff on Puccini’s Madama Butterfly arrived on Broadway in 1988, it became a sensation. Even once the deception at the heart of M. Butterfly ceased to shock, audiences were fascinated by the true story that inspired it, of a French diplomat who fell in love with a Peking opera singer, not knowing (spoiler alert) that she was truly a man. Julie Taymor’s revival, which opened last night at the Cort Theatre, delivers some of the director’s customary flourish, but the story underneath, significantly revised by Mr. Hwang, feels hollowed out and robbed of its bite — and not because the cat is no longer in the bag.

M butterfly

Some three decades after its premiere, the threads running through Hwang’s play — gender identity, sexuality, racial geopolitics, and most prominently in the original text, misogyny — exist in a very different context. We argue incessantly about them on Twitter, pausing only to march over them in the streets and occasionally to breathe into a paper bag. Perhaps now would not be the best time to meet the OG Rene Gallimard, who’s fear of women subsides only when he feels full domination over them. That Gallimard would have belly-flopped onto Broadway only to realize the pool is empty. With these headlines? Has he no shame?

M butterfly 5

Well, yes and no. The emperor has new clothes, or rather, a different sort of wool pulled over his eyes. Instead of being a closet cad, shy about his true desire to subjugate women but no less turned on by it, this Gallimard seems more explicitly a closet case, and quite a gentleman at that, especially as embodied by a charming Clive Owen. He’s gone from a man who occasionally indulged in a little locker room talk, to one you might find trying not to peer over at your towel. Vulgar attitudes toward women, such as they are here, are entirely relegated to Gallimard’s best friend and foil Marc (Looking’s Murray Bartlett, sans mustache).

All this makes for a more palatable, but far less provocative and cohesive M. Butterfly.

M butterfly 3

Addressing us from a cell on the outskirts of Paris where he’s been imprisoned for treason, Gallimard takes us back to his diplomatic post in 1964, to recall how he met the “Perfect Woman” in Peking who caused his downfall. Song, embodied with nimble grace by Jin Ha, at times interjects with her side of events that he’d rather push aside, like her meetings with a communist agent to pass on intelligence she learned from her Western beau. The new revision grants Song a bit more agency and one hell of a different backstory, one that makes Gallimard’s delusion to her true sex all the more wild to wrap our heads around.

M butterfly 4

But the real dissonance comes at the moment of reckoning. There’s a certain easy parallel between the racial and sexual politics in the original text — Gallimard believed Song was a woman because his desire fed so gluttonously on the submission of an Eastern woman to his Western male dominance. It’s what Song ultimately describes as the West’s “international rape mentality towards the East.” But with those themes largely stripped from the preceding story, such that their relationship largely consists of exchanges in romantic cliches worthy of Miss Saigon, one hardly knows what to make of it all in the end.     

M butterfly 2

Returning to Broadway for the first time since the debacle of Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, from which she was fired in part for hemorrhaging money into an overly elaborate production, Taymor takes a downright modest approach to physical staging. It’s possible to argue that scenic designer Paul Steinberg’s folding mobile panels are meant to evoke the frailty of illusion; it’s also not inaccurate to describe them as flimsy. Still, Taymor’s direction is fluid and often quite beautiful, particularly during scenes in the Chinese opera (choreography is by Ma Cong).

In teasing queer desire to the fore, Hwang has necessarily tidied up the play’s frank and insightful look at dark underpinnings of straight male sexuality. But uncomfortable though they may be to interrogate, doing so could hardly be more urgent.   

Recent theatre features…
In Off-Broadway’s ‘Lonely Planet,’ Coping with AIDS Trauma on a Human Scale: REVIEW
Transcendent ‘Torch Song’ Starring Michael Urie and Mercedes Ruehl Is Required Gay Viewing: REVIEW
‘Downton Abbey’s Elizabeth McGovern Opens in Puzzling ‘Time and the Conways’: REVIEW
‘A Clockwork Orange’ Shows Plenty of Skin, Skimps on Danger Off-Broadway: REVIEW
No Tea, No Shade — Off-Broadway’s ‘Charm’ Wants You to Behave: REVIEW
5 Actions to Take Now Inspired by Michael Moore’s ‘The Terms of My Surrender’ on Broadway

Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar
(photos: matthew murphy)

Topics: Theater, towleroad More Posts About: Clive Owen, Entertainment, Naveen Kumar, New York, News, Review, Theatre Review

Related Posts
  • Russia Blocks Facebook, Accusing it of Restricting Access to Russian Media;
  • Duran Duran Has New Music And You Are About To Enjoy it. It’s 2021. Seriously.
  • ‘Mayor Pete’ Trailer; Papa Pete Pwns Tucker; 4-Stars for Dr. Rachel Levine; JoJo Siwa’s Perfect 10s; Lynda Carter’s 8 Wonder-full Words: GOOD NEWS
  • Dame Angela Lansbury to receive Lifetime Achievement gong at the Tonys

    Dame Angela Lansbury to receive Lifetime Achievement gong at the Tonys

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Dame Angela Lansbury is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement gong at the Tony Awards. The 96-year-old actress – who has won five Tonys during her career – will be honoured …Read More »
  • Factbox: Seven races to watch in Georgia, Alabama midterm primaries, Texas run-offs

    Factbox: Seven races to watch in Georgia, Alabama midterm primaries, Texas run-offs

    Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Voters in Georgia and Alabama will pick candidates for the U.S. Congress and other offices in Tuesday primaries testing former President Donald Trump’s power over his Republican Party ahead of …Read More »
  • Cybill Shepherd supports Bruce Willis after aphasia diagnosis

    Cybill Shepherd supports Bruce Willis after aphasia diagnosis

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Cybill Shepherd “will always love” Bruce Willis. ‘Die Hard’ legend Bruce, 67, has stepped away from the big screen after finding it increasingly difficult to manage his lines on set after …Read More »
  • WHO says no evidence monkeypox virus has mutated

    WHO says no evidence monkeypox virus has mutated

    Published by Reuters (Reuters) – The World Health Organization does not have evidence that the monkeypox virus has mutated, a senior executive at the U.N. agency said on Monday, noting the infectious disease that is endemic …Read More »
Previous Post: « Seth Meyers Blasts the ‘Slobbering’ Trump Sycophants at FOX News and its Obsession with Hillary: WATCH
Next Post: Jack’d Comes for Grindr, Calling Out the App for Allowing Racist Profiles »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Vladimir Putin’s TV Appearances ‘Staged’ As Russian Leader Continues To Suffer Worsening Health Problems

    Vladimir Putin’s TV Appearances ‘Staged’ As Russian Leader Continues To Suffer Worsening Health Problems

  • US flight brings tons of needed baby formula from Germany

    US flight brings tons of needed baby formula from Germany

  • Courtney Love apologises for ‘bullying’ Amber Heard

    Courtney Love apologises for ‘bullying’ Amber Heard

  • ‘Desperate To Chase His Lost Relevance’: Donald Trump SLAMS Mike Pence’s ‘Plans’ To Run For President In 2024

    ‘Desperate To Chase His Lost Relevance’: Donald Trump SLAMS Mike Pence’s ‘Plans’ To Run For President In 2024

Break

  • Starbucks to completely exit Russia after Ukraine invasion

    Starbucks to completely exit Russia after Ukraine invasion

  • Evan Spiegel & Miranda Kerr Pay Off $10 Million In Loans Of Otis College’s Graduating Class

    Evan Spiegel & Miranda Kerr Pay Off $10 Million In Loans Of Otis College’s Graduating Class

  • Vladimir Putin’s Daughter SECRETLY Living In Germany With Man Named Igor Zelensky

    Vladimir Putin’s Daughter SECRETLY Living In Germany With Man Named Igor Zelensky

  • Tucker Carlson: Voice of white America’s outrage and fears

    Tucker Carlson: Voice of white America’s outrage and fears

RSS Partner Links

  • Morning Wood
  • 11 Most Famous & Best Premium Gay Sites Of 2022
  • “Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant & Kyle Mooney left SNL” links
  • Duchess Meghan came out to see Prince Harry’s polo team again this weekend
  • Kourtney Kardashian's Wedding Photos - See Her Multiple Dresses from Italian Affair with Travis Barker!
  • Natalia Dyer Doesn't Really Get The Interest In Her & Charlie Heaton's Real Life Relationship
  • Jamie Foxx Spotted Making Out with Mystery Woman on a Yacht
  • Kevin McGarry & Kayla Wallace To Star in Hallmark's 'My Grown Up Christmas List' Movie Airing During Christmas in July Event
  • OMG, looking for that fresh summer look: Avoid these horrible haircut FAILS

Most Recent

  • U.S. health officials releasing some Jynneos vaccine doses for monkeypox – CDC

    U.S. health officials releasing some Jynneos vaccine doses for monkeypox – CDC

  • Dame Angela Lansbury to receive Lifetime Achievement gong at the Tonys

    Dame Angela Lansbury to receive Lifetime Achievement gong at the Tonys

  • Factbox: Seven races to watch in Georgia, Alabama midterm primaries, Texas run-offs

    Factbox: Seven races to watch in Georgia, Alabama midterm primaries, Texas run-offs

  • Cybill Shepherd supports Bruce Willis after aphasia diagnosis

    Cybill Shepherd supports Bruce Willis after aphasia diagnosis

  • WHO says no evidence monkeypox virus has mutated

    WHO says no evidence monkeypox virus has mutated

  • U.S. Southern Baptists release scathing report on sexual abuse

    U.S. Southern Baptists release scathing report on sexual abuse

  • Indonesia summons Britain’s envoy after furore over rainbow flag

    Indonesia summons Britain’s envoy after furore over rainbow flag

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Log in