Madam Butterfly (Madama Butterfly)

An American naval officer (Pinkerton) ‘acquires’ a 15 year old Geisha wife during a stay in Japan – but has no intention of staying with her. After a while he returns to the USA and marries his fiancee. Meanwhile, Butterfly waits for him for three years, cut off from her family, religion and culture by being an American wife. And she is now a mother. When he finally returns she is overjoyed, but he brings with him his new wife. Story originally published in a magazine.

This thought-provoking production updates the original turn-of-the-century setting to the 1950s, confronting the darker political and emotional currents of a work that acknowledges that there are some barriers too great for even love to conquer.