Revival of ‘M. Butterfly’ flits to new heights

How much did he know and when did he know it? That is the double-edged question that percolates through Manoa Valley Theatre's superb production of "M. Butterfly."

"M. Butterfly" Presented by Manoa Valley Theatre, continues 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays through Jan. 29. Tickets: $25, with discounts for seniors, military and ages 25 and under. Call: 988-6131 or visit manoavalleytheatre.com.

Is it possible that two people could live together for more than 20 years without one learning the true gender of the other? French diplomat Rene Gallimard claims during his trial for treason that he had no idea his longtime mistress, Chinese opera singer Song Liling, was in fact physically male.

It's been almost 15 years since Diamond Head Theatre presented "M. Butterfly" with Terence Knapp and Xuehue Hu as Gallimard and Song. Dwight Martin and Colin Miyamoto prove similarly well matched at MVT.

Martin gives a brilliant portrayal of a naive, sexually inexperienced man who becomes the victim of his own delusions as he blunders into an extramarital relationship with an "exotic Asian woman." The story is told in retrospect -- Gallimard is already in prison, and Song is about to be deported to China after testifying against him -- and Martin hits every nuance of the character perfectly as Gallimard examines the relationship.

Are we to assume that he never even suspected? Or did he think it better to be deemed a fool than admit he had knowingly enjoyed a homosexual relationship?

The show is a dramatic breakthrough for Miyamoto, who becomes more convincing as a female impersonator as the story progresses, yet morphs convincingly once the masquerade is over.

Playwright David Henry Hwang gives Song most of the best lines in this thought-provoking, multilayered dissection of sex roles, racial stereotypes, cultural conflicts and the power of illusion and self-delusion. Song comments early that the story "Madame Butterfly" appeals to Westerners because it ends with an Asian woman killing herself after being forsaken by a Western man, and not the other way around. He notes later that it takes a man to play the perfect woman, and finally tells Galliard that playing the role of the diplomat's mistress was "my greatest acting challenge."

Prior knowledge of "Madame Butterfly" is not required to appreciate the way the relationship between Song and Gallimard reverses every important element of Puccini's classic opera.

Daniel James Kunkel and Michael Rainey add to the comic tone of director Lyn Kajiwara Ackerman's take on Hwang's tale. Kunkel appears as the smarmy womanizer Gallimard envied in his youth. Rainey plays the opportunistic French ambassador who used Gallimard's strengths and weaknesses to his own advantage in Beijing. Michelle Baltazar contributes a third memorable performance as the Chinese agent who directs Song's seduction of Gallimard in the early 1960s, then abuses the hapless singer during Mao's Cultural Revolution.

Nudity plays an important part in Hwang's play -- the first nude scene foreshadows the second -- but director Ackerman reduces that element and a bit of the show's dramatic impact.

On the other hand, there is no faulting the vision of James Davenport (set design) and Megan Evans (choreographer). Davenport's spacious set establishes and maintains the Asian theme while also providing a visually interesting performance space. Evans' choreography captures the beauty of traditional Chinese opera and then the harsher political-modernist style of the middle Maoist period. Costume designer Lorena Jones dresses Miyamoto in a series of beautiful kimonos and gowns that add to his success as a seductive female impersonator.

DHT's "M. Butterfly" was theatrical perfection in 1991. MVT's revival is must-see theater in 2006.