MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Being a semi-staged presentation, the creative priority is to visually deliver the essence of the piece: every costume, prop and lighting choice is included with the sole justification that it is crucial to the characters and their story. While productions of the operatic canon are known nowadays for frequent ‘modern’ re-tellings, this is a piece that is arguably inextricable from its époque: this is partly because of the historical timing of the West and East truly discovering each other in a burst of fascination and dissonance, but more crucially that these worlds must feel as distant and different as they were at that time, in order for us to appreciate the immensity of the tragedy that saturates Butterly’s hope, faith, love - and eventual sacrifice.      

The tragedy of Madama Butterfly does not reveal itself in the final moments; it lingers in the shadows while we are drawn towards a young woman’s burning faith in love and promises - until we realise that the ending, though shocking, has been inevitable. In the coming of Pinkerton - an American naval officer - to Nagasaki, Puccini dramatises a microcosm of the fresh infatuation these cultures are experiencing in discovering each other during the turn of the 20th century.

Pinkerton’s genuine fascination with Butterfly during his discovery of Japanese culture belies the motivation of his own culture - to discover and exercise the individual’s right to Free Will and Choice. Thus, in this staging, we see Pinkerton enjoying Butterfly and her surroundings in the same way that he enjoys consuming whatever food, drink and activities he chooses - when he chooses. His enthusiasm for Butterfly may seem like deceit, but in fact we are watching the central, ill-fated cultural misunderstanding unfold. Although Pinkerton ends up with everything and Butterfly with nothing, he is as much a victim of this misalignment as she is.