Tony Award-winning play to be staged at SU

On the second leg of its national tour, the revival production of M. Butterfly in the Philippines is set to introduce the Dumaguete audience to the award-winning play with shows in the Silliman University (SU) Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium from Feb. 28 until March 3.

M. Butterfly, a play by David Henry Hwang, won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1988, the same year it premiered on Broadway. In 1990, the play was first staged in the Philippines by Dulaang UP (University of the Philippines), with Raymond “RS” Francisco starring in the lead role of Song Liling.

About 30 years later, Francisco and producer Jhett Tolentino, the first Filipino to win both a Tony Award and a Grammy award, decided to revive the production of M. Butterfly in the Philippines. The revival premiered in Manila last year and ran from Sept. 13-30 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater, Taguig City.

The play, presented by Tolentino and FRONTROW Entertainment, then won the 2018 ALIW Awards for Best Play; Best Actor in the Non-Musical category for Francisco’s portrayal of his signature role as Song Liling; and Best Director for Kanakan Balintagos.

M. Butterfly tells the story of René Gallimard, a French embassy official in China, who falls in love with Chinese opera star Song Liling. Gallimard thinks she is the embodiment of Madame Butterfly, whom he considers as the perfect woman, but Song Liling might not be who she seems to be.

The 2019 national tour reportedly aims to bring the “world-class masterpiece” to cities outside Manila as their mission and advocacy in the performing arts and to further enhance audience development in the country.

During the meet and greet of the cast and artistic team last Feb. 26 at Robinsons Place Dumaguete, Francisco assured Dumagueteños that, “what was shown in Manila is 99.9 percent what you will see here in Dumaguete” in terms of production quality.

The national tour of M. Butterfly will feature “more depth” in Francisco’s portrayal of Song Liling compared with his first stint as the character in 1990, as well as an added “twist” because of a new actor, Aira Igarta, who will also play as Song Liling in certain performances.

“We are not here for profit. Here in Dumaguete, we have the SU Culture and Arts Council as our beneficiary,” said Tolentino. The tour will benefit nine other institutions, including the Philippine National Red Cross Iloilo Chapter, The Children of Cebu Foundation, and St. Louis University Culture and Arts Center, among others.

The first leg of the national tour (Feb. 14-17) was in Iloilo City), hometown of both Francisco and Tolentino. After Dumaguete, M. Butterfly will also be performed in Cebu City (March 14-17), Davao City (March 28-31), Manila (May 8-12 then 15-19), and Baguio City (May 30-June 2).

The schedule of M. Butterfly shows in Dumaguete City are as follows:

Venue: Luce Auditorium, Silliman University

Feb. 28 – Thursday – 7 p.m. (Opening night)
March 1 – Friday – 7 p.m.
March 2 – Saturday – 2 p.m. / 7 p.m.
March 3 – Sunday – 2 p.m. / 7 p.m.

Tickets are available at the SU Culture and Arts Council Office. For more information, contact the office at: (035) 422-4365, (0917) 300-0346, (0999) 797-7825

The cast of M. Butterfly during the meet and greet at Robinsons Place Dumaguete, Feb. 26.

(Photos from SU Culture and Arts Council’s official Facebook page)