19:00, Tue 22nd – Sat 26th November 2016 at Corpus Playroom
Michaelmas Week 7

“Are you my Butterfly?” Rene Gallimard’s dream is to love and be loved by The Perfect Woman, but he expects little after a lifetime of rejection. So when he is sent on a diplomatic mission to China only to be entranced by actress Song Liling’s alluring performance in Madame Butterfly, he assumes that his advances will be rejected once more. To his great surprise, however, Song suggests that the feelings might be mutual. Blinded by joy, Gallimard catapults into a torrid love affair without hesitating to consider that things may be too good to be true. Unwilling to accept anything but his dream woman, however, Gallimard ignores the widening cracks in order to preserve the illusion that he has yearned for all his life. A play about deception, stereotypes, and the power of blind belief, 1988 Tony Award winner M. Butterfly observes the collision between expectation and reality and the wreckage left behind.