M. Butterfly is a 1988 play by David Henry Hwang, which deals with themes about cultural stereotypes of East vs West (see Orientalism), and is loosely based on the real life relationship between Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu. The play was inspired by the opera Madame Butterfly. 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... David Henry Hwang (黃哲倫 Pinyin: Huáng Zhìlún) (born November 8, 1957) is a contemporary American playwright. ... Orientalism is the study of Near and Far Eastern societies and cultures by Westerners. ... Madama Butterfly (or sometimes Madame Butterfly in English) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set in Japan. ...

The main character (Rene Gallimard) is a civil servant attached to the French embassy in China. He falls in love with a beautiful opera singer (Song Liling), who is, unbeknownst to Gallimard, a man masquerading as a woman. (Note that in traditional Beijing opera, women's roles were performed by male dan, or specialists in feminine roles.) The singer spies on Gallimard for the Chinese government, using Gallimard's own fantasies of submissive oriental femininity to decieve and manipulate him. After an affair spanning twenty years, the truth is revealed and Gallimard is tried and convicted of treason. Imprisoned, Gallimard retreats into a fantasy world rather than acknowledge that his 'perfect woman' is in fact a man. In Beijing, September 2002 Beijing opera or Peking opera (京剧, pinyin: Jīngj is a kind of Chinese opera which arose in the mid-19th century and was extremely popular in the Qing dynasty court. ...

The original cast featured John Lithgow as Gallimard and B.D. Wong as Song Liling. David Dukes, Anthony Hopkins, Tony Randall, and John Rubenstein also played Gallimard during the original run. John Lithgow (born October 19, 1945 in Rochester, New York) is an accomplished actor, best known for starring in the 1996-2001 NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. ... B.D. Wong (黃榮亮, pinyin: Huáng Róngliàng) (born October 24, 1962) is an openly gay American actor who has had roles on All American Girl, OZ (TV series), and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. ... This article is about David Dukes, the character actor. ... Anthony Hopkins A separate article is about composer Antony Hopkins. ... Tony Randall (February 26, 1920 - May 17, 2004) was an American actor. ...

The play was made into a 1993 movie directed by David Cronenberg. 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... M. Butterfly is a 1993 film directed by David Cronenberg. ... David Paul Cronenberg (born March 16, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian horror and science fiction film director, who has also worked as an actor. ...