3/17/2023 0 Comments M butterfly peking opera![]() And behind it, a cutaway screen, shaped like a fan, projects the lighting designs in seductive pastels of Steven B. Set designer Kate Edmunds' swoosh of a ramp allows for high entrances and lengthy descents. Whether the scene is the French embassy, the French prison or Gallimard's flat back in France, the same Chinese-flavored building blocks become desks, tables and beds. ![]() Boxes in deep wood tones with Chinese carvings serve as furniture or props and match the carved Chinese screen that forms various walls. A highly choreographed battle scene features synchronous twirling with colorful staffs to dramatic Chinese percussion. Guan, with Nicholas Hua Guan, Austin Ku and Francis Jue in tall headdress as opera star Song Liling. Gallimard sits meekly on the sidelines through two substantial Beijing opera sequences featuring (and directed by) Jamie H.J. In TheatreWorks' production, it is the Chinese vision that dominates the elements. And the ever-present question is who has power over what. From his prison cell, Gallimard claims that a man simply wants "the unconditional love" of a woman he doesn't deserve (overlooking some minor sadistic business about sticking pins in butterflies).Īs Gallimard (Mark Capri) unfolds his story, juggling several realities, he talks in his dreams to characters from his past and to us. In court, after posing as a woman for 20 years to spy on French diplomat Rene Gallimard, Song derides the "Western rape mentality" of "Her mouth says no, and her eyes say yes" as he boasts that Gallimard was easily duped. ![]() Butterfly maintains that the West fancies itself a dominant "male" culture in relation to effeminate (ideally submissive) Eastern cultures. ![]() ![]() THE CHARACTER Song Liling in David Henry Hwang's play M. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |