M. Butterfly, I found, is a play that examines the human psyche and self-discovery.  It was a very shocking production, even though I had knowledge of the play beforehand.  Two aspects of the play intrigued me greatly:

Set Design and Acting—  The design was peculiar.  The stage was relatively small, yet the props took up very little room.  This allowed the play to switch scenes quickly, which I found fitting because the story was narrated through the main character’s soliloquies.  When he needed to fast-forward his story, or merely changed his thought, the stage went dark and, within seconds, a new scene was presented.  I was really impressed by how quickly the stage crew was able to transform the scenes.  It gave the production a cinematic feel, as if I were watching a movie; this is something I haven’t seen in most plays.  Often times a production will stick with a constant background; this play had little (maybe 2 or 3) repeated scenes, which I found fascinating.  The actors, too, intrigued me, as they had to change their clothing quickly.  The actors also had to change their moods and style of speaking in an instant if they were in consecutive scenes; it was all very impressive.  Another aspect of the play’s acting that I really enjoyed was 1) their consistent humor throughout the play and 2) their breaking of the fourth wall.  Perhaps even more shocking than the play’s finale was how hilariously witty it was.  I didn’t expect so many jokes!  The actors also “broke the fourth wall” all throughout the play.  Because Rene- the protagonist- was telling the audience the story of Madame Butterfly, it allowed for further interaction between the actors and the audience.  In a later scene, Rene’s friend Mark jokingly tried to flirt with an audience member, combining the intrigue of humor and fourth-wall breaking.

Despite having read the play before seeing the production, seeing the play live gave me a whole new perspective and experience of the message behind the play. The first thing that intrigued me were the set design boards and how they were made to simply either fold over or placed at an angle against each other to transition to another scene or location that Gallimard was at. They were also used to show the transition from the original Peking Chinese Opera that focused on love to the warlike images of communism that took over the opera to rally the Chinese together for the revolution. This transition showed me how easily influenced the public was by the government who simply took over the original aesthetic focus of singing and traditional costumes of the Peking Opera to a performance filled with war chants and outfits that carried weapons which ended pointing directly at Gallimard. Another aspect that intrigued me was the exceptional acting throughout the play, especially the scenes between Song and Gallimard and how Gallimard tried stopping the play towards the end refusing to move onto the court scene. I also found it interesting during the few times where the actors broke away from the scene and spoke asides such as the time when Song asked his comrade for a baby and Gallimard stood to the side making a remark of not wanting to show see the woman again. However, the most shocking scene was when Song stripped naked on stage to make it clear to Gallimard that he was a man and it is in this scene that we see how much Gallimard refused to believe that “his butterfly” was a man but it is clear that they did love one another. Overall, the play was well performed and gave another perspective to the play that was not present when only reading it.

Watching the production of Madame Butterfly shocked me more than I ever thought it would despite the fact that I had a lot of prior knowledge of the play beforehand. The first thing that intrigued me were the costumes. I thought they did a wonderful job at showcasing the difference between European and Chinese fashion. It was also very relevant to the time period. The traditional Chinese clothes versus the revolutionary Chinese clothes was also made very clear, especially in the scene where the they performed a play where they tore the traditional clothes from one the actors who had revolutionary clothes underneath in order to send a message. That play made think critically about how determined the revolutionaries were in changing the traditional ways of way.

What also intrigued me was the acting. There was a lot of passion in the words of the characters. I could tell Gallimard was in a desperate search for “his butterfly” and he would do anything to find her. The acting also made me think about what Song had really accomplished over the years. He was in fact a man who loved another man. Despite living in China where homosexuality is considered a disease, he devoted his life to theatre and hoped for the best. He lived and carried the burden of never being able to be his true self. What shocked me the most was the court scene. His blunt words and description while having intercourse with Gallimard really surprised me. What surprised me even more was when he took off his clothes in front of Gallimard. It takes great bravery to strip in front of an entire audience over and over again. In the end I was impressed with the bluntness of this production, how it really did not hold anything back. It contained so many more meaningful messages and themes that the original production did not.

The use of Chinese performance interested me.  I think it was important for Hwang to include the demonstration of Chinese art in the play as a stark contrast to European opera. It certainly challenged the audience to participate in a more unfamiliar art form. In a sense, it demanded the audience to evaluate their own racial and gender understandings of Eastern Asia. This was very clever on Hwang’s part. Furthermore, it was just eye-opening because it portrayed a type of art that is rarely seen by Broadway.

Another element of this revival that is important to address is the knowledge that viewers already have of Song’s actual background. When the production was first put on Broadway, the fact that Song Liling was a male disguised as a female must have been surprising to most viewers. Because the play has garnered such popularity since then, this must not have been as shocking for viewers the second time around. This situation was addressed in a redirection of surprise. The most shocking part of the story for me was Song’s compassion. His love for Gallimard, which was not prominent whatsoever in the first rendition, was made most evident in the final scene when Gallimard commits seppuku. Originally, Song stood to the side indifferently, but here, he actually approaches Gallimard and expresses intense sorrow over his suicide.

Write a response to the production of M. Butterfly focusing on at least 2 aspects of the production that intrigued or challenged you (i.e. acting, set design, costume, etc.).

In order to start producing the film, we elected to go on a day of shooting. We didn’t have a full script, a defined shot list or concrete storyboarding, but we decided to go out anyway, just to practice, and see what would happen. The day of shooting and exploring the space for new shot opportunities allowed to us to see the potential of the space, and create a more concrete storyline tying together all of the ideas we had previously. We noticed the reactions of people as we were filming, annoying them with our talking, the camera and monopod. As I was filming Michelle sitting down in the train car, the guy next to her kept falling asleep, leaning down and then constantly jolting up. We took that opportunity to film her annoyance and discomfort in the situation. We found creepy tunnels and spaces at a station in Brooklyn, giving us an opportunity to showcase another unfortunate “subway situation.” Although it wasn’t necessarily the idea in the beginning, the film most likely will have a fairly dark feel, as the majority of the situations are either annoying, unpleasant, or actually terrible. However, we feel that they are definitely a possibility, and should be shown, rather than purposefully making the short film light. As we were outside, filming Michelle walking to the station, we decided that the most efficient way to tie together all these situations was a dream, or rather a nightmare, in which she is imagining each of her annoyances, fears, and pleasures as she goes about her today on a ride on the Q train from point A to point B. There is a whole host of feelings and events that go on in this space, and we wish to bring them to life.

During our second visit to the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan, my group and I focused on different aspects of the site from last time.  For example, we examined a map of the burial ground carved into the monument, which showed us that the burial ground is a lot more extensive than we believed.  I read that the remains of these Africans extended over 5 city blocks!  It was depressing to us that none of us, and probably most Manhattanites, had ever realized that every time we get off the 6 train at City Hall, we are literally walking over thousands of remains.  Below the streets of Duane and Broadway is essentially a giant cemetery, holding the bones and possessions of the ancestors of one of New York’s largest ethnic groups.

After filming and recording, my group and I decided to walk around the site again.  We each explored the site individually.  I noticed there was a circular ramp which leads viewers into and out of the monument, with a wall curled around it.  On this wall was a series of symbols, most of which I didn’t recognize.  I came across one particular symbol, which was shaped like an uneven spiral, hypnotically curling from the center outward.  I asked a nearby tour guide about the symbol’s meaning, who told us that it was an icon symbolizing the Africans’ long, harrowing, and unpredictable journey to the New World.  I immediately thought about how profound that was, and I instantly understood the meaning of the symbol, even though I have no African roots.  I felt more emotionally connected to the site, and experienced its aesthetics more than I did last time around.  I definitely plan on revisiting!