M. Butterfly

Act One

It is present day, a Paris prison. In his cell, Rene Gallimard remembers Song Liling, whom he remembers as his “Butterfly.” Song dances, first to a traditional song from Peking Opera, then the music transitions to Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Gallimard turns to the audience and describes his cell, acknowledging the tape recorder in front of him so that he might record his story. He ironically notes that now he is a celebrity, that he is discussed worldwide at cocktail parties.

At another part of the stage, lights rise on a cocktail party, where a woman and two men laugh about Gallimard not knowing the truth about Song. They toast to him, and the scene shifts back to Gallimard in his cell. He says that in order to understand his story--and know that he was loved by the Perfect Woman--he must explain his favorite opera, Madame Butterfly. In it, Cio-Cio San (known as Butterfly) becomes involved with Pinkerton, a United States sailor. Gallimard takes on the persona of Pinkerton,