That silk kimono hides a scandalous secret in “M. Butterfly,” David Henry Hwang’s 1988 Tony Award-winning drama about the romance between a French diplomat and the Chinese opera singer he believed to be a woman – but who was in fact a man. In the nearly 30 years since Hwang’s play became something of a Broadway sensation – running for more than 750 performances, which was and still is remarkable for a straight play – men dressing as women have become rather more commonplace in popular culture. For that matter, discussions of the fluidity of identity, the “performative” aspects of gender and the unequal power relationships among men and women have proliferated.
Review: ‘M. Butterfly’ never takes flight
That silk kimono hides a scandalous secret in “M. Butterfly,” David Henry Hwang’s 1988 Tony Award-winning drama about the romance between a French diplomat and the Chinese opera singer he believed to be a woman – but who was in fact a man.
