April, 1991

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Page 5

M. Butterfly takes off on deception and stereotypes

by Kevin Beaney

How is the wool pulled over your eyes? Is it because someone else is deceiving you, or because you allow yourself to be deceived? Are you willing to overlook facts and suppress your curiosity to keep your pre-conceived notions intact, despite preposterous circumstances that at a later time seem obvious to anyone else?

As a 19-year-old male, were you so naive that an Asian's submissive attitude and skirt are enough to keep your hormones content with very little intimate sexual contact? For 20 years? Looking back on your latent homosexual desire, was that really a man you fell in love with and betrayed your country for?

This sounds like heavy complex material, worthy of a sexuality workshop, but it's not. It's the premise of M. Butterfly, the triple Tony-award winning play of 1988 by David Henry Hwang that delighted and entertained audiences on Broadway for 777 performances and is now on tour, including a stop at the Cleveland Play House.

The play is based on a true story of a French diplomat who became enamored with a Chinese star of the Peking Opera, and carried on a clandestine love affair for more than 20 years. In the process, state secrets were passed to China. When the undercover deceit is finally uncovered, so are the wraps around the opera singer to reveal that she is really a man.

The title of the work takes its cue from Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly with its Asian and Caucasian characters and its "sexist and racist cliches," according to Hwang. The "M." of the title reminds you of the opera while cleverly serving as the French abbreviation for Monsieur (Mister).

In a recent interview the playwright elaborated about his fascination with the story. When he first heard of it, Hwang realized that this was a sad example of a Western preconception that Asian women are shy, uninformed and submissive in their sexual affairs. So, part of the play is used to examine and debunk the myth.

The character of Rene Gallimard (played on the tour by Philip Anglim) assumes he is in control and has found his Butterfly, much like in the Puccini opera. But he carries this myth with him throughout their tryst, he allows himself to never question it. In the process, he becomes the Butterfly controlled by a spy and female impersonator. A. Mapa plays the role of Song Liling, as he leads this poor naive Westerner through years of deceit, posing

as a woman.

The political intrigue really serves as background to the love story, too. According to Hwang, the political becomes the personal. "Gallimard wants to delude himself because he wants to be loved, he wants to believe he's met the perfect woman, and the fantasy he's able to project upon the other person is one that happens to arise out of an imperialist assumption,

which is the idea of the submissive East or the perfect Oriental woman."

Despite the transvestite element, Hwang does not use this story to exploit or ridicule gays. It's more of a "focus on stereotypes and the ability of Gallimard to be deceived or to deceive himself," said Hwang. "The fact is that the two people are literally in a homosexual relationship, and I think the play perhaps deals with the ways that Gallimard is a closeted homosexual, but it emphasizes that less than the ways in which he is fooled culturally."

This is also a story of longed-for love that has a wide appeal, despite the improb-

that interpretation interesting and went on to say "the play is certainly about how the traditional definitions, the parameters by which we define sexuality, are really all in our heads and they're not very tangible— they only exist because we choose to call this a sort of normal sexual relationship or that an abnormal sexual relationship."

And what exactly is Gallimard in love with? A woman created by a man? In this situation the traditional definitions of “I'm in love with a woman" or "I'm in love with a man" have to fall by the wayside or

become quite fuzzy, according to the playwright.

M. Butterfly is a play that seeks to break down barriers and stereotypes of east and west, and those "that exist in our sexual relationships with one another, which do not necessarily correspond to what we're really feeling or what's really happening between two people."

The show will be at the Palace Theatre in Playhouse Square Center from April 23 to 28. Evening show times are 7:30 p.m. and there is also a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Saturday and Sunday.

able circumstances. According to the play. Now you can hear our personals

wright, "where the play becomes quite universal, beyond the political or social

issue, has more to do with the idea of 'do Only lesbian and gay voice-personals system in the state

we really know who it is that we're in love with' and the degree to which that has become a preoccupation in all of us over the past few years." This idea applies to all, regardless of their sexual orientation, and helps the play appeal to a wide audience.

66

Hwang believes most of us have had an experience of self-deception in love, waking up and realizing the person we slept with or were in love with was different than we thought. " 'How could I have thought that? Where was my head?' Gallimard's experience is much more extreme but hopefully there is a commonality of experience that allows us to relate to what he's going through."

At some point everyone questions how this deceptive affair could have gone on for so long. The real-life pair, who were living in Paris following their espionage conviction, gave an interview after the play became a Broadway hit. The diplomat blamed it on sexual inexperience, being 19 at the time he met the singer. The spy was older and experienced in playing women's parts in the Peking Opera. They had only limited sexual contact and the Frenchman never saw the Asian unclothed. "She" also presented him with a Eurasian child, supposedly from their union, that had been purchased. Other aspects from the story and the interviews suggest that this was more than the deceit of a spy--they both played the game to protect their true love from the shame of a homosexual affair.

The lead actors for this tour bring considerable Broadway credit with them. Philip Anglim originated the role of John

Starting April 1, the Gay People's Chronicle will offer its readers a new service. The Chronicle Personals will be available via 800 and 900 numbers. This is the only lesbian and gay run publication offering this service in Ohio.

The system is voice-mail based. Readers who send in personals will be able to record a voice message on the system and pick up their replies through an 800 number.

Those people who are replying to an ad will be able to call a 900 number and leave messages. Respondents will be charged $1.98 a minute and the charge will show up on their phone bill as "GPC Publishing." The caller may leave a message for a particular personal ad listed in the paper or listen to all the prerecorded messages on the system.

Chronicle Publisher Martha Pontoni expressed excitement and enthusiasm about the new service, "It is always great to offer the community more convenience. Service to the community is our job and we hope everyone will take advantage of this unique opportunity."

The Chronicle personals are structured to be "politically correct," says Pontoni. "Gays and lesbians are often a people who have to live in a heterosexual world and translate that world to ours. With our talking personals, gay and lesbian people are

the focus."

The categories that readers can select from are: gay men seeking other gay men; lesbians seeking other lesbians; or bisexuals seeking other bisexual men or women. "No longer will our community have to Iwade through the hetero bullshit," said Pontoni. "This is our line, operated just for us."

The Chronicle hopes to boost the number of personals it receives by 100 percent with this new system. "It is so easy and convenient," says Pontoni, "No more waiting anxiously for the mail to come. No more scrounging around for paper, pen and a stamp when a personal hits your eye. Your response can be instantaneous and their response to you can be just as quick."

The Chronicle will enforce its standards of no explicit language in the personal messages that ad holders can place on the system. "This isn't a phone-sex line. It is a safe place for gay men and lesbians to meet each other," notes Pontoni. These standards apply only to the message that the advertiser leaves. The responses will be heard only by the advertiser; no one will listen to or edit the response messages on the system.

The talking personals can be accessed by touch-tone or rotary phones, 24 hours a day. Please see further instructions in the Personals section. ▼

Stalk charges blackmail in rape

Merrick in The Elephant Man off-Broad case; says he has tape to prove it

way and later brought it to Broadway. A. Mapa was in the original company of M. Butterfly and starred as Song Liling opposite Tony Randall for nearly a year. This national tour of M. Butterfly uses much of the original epic, spacial direction of the late John Dexter.

The playwright told of a discussion he had with Dexter in the early pre-production days. They were trying to summarize the play in one sentence. Dexter, who was gay, said the play was about "how men try to repress their feminine side and, if you do, it comes out in a horrible way such that you have to kill it violently." Hwang found

by Martha Pontoni

Former Stonewall Union-Columbus president Russell Stalk remains in jail at press time awaiting a hearing on a rape charge. On February 14, Stalk was arrested for raping a man, and it was discovered that he had a prior record of arrest and jail time for the having sex with a 12-year-old boy.

In a surprising turn to the case, Stalk reports the complainant sought to blackmail him, demanding money and threatening to publicly accuse Stalk of rape. According to Stonewall Union Reports, Stalk maintains that all sex acts that did occur

were consensual. According to Stalk, he and the alleged victim had talked about having sex before they left the bar.

Stalk has a recorded conversation of the attempted blackmail, a copy of which he turned over to the police one week before they arrested him.

A Russ Stalk Legal Defense Fund has been started to help Stalk pay for his legal defense. Those wanting to contribute can write to P.O. Box 10527, Columbus, OH 43201.▼

DEBRA L. DUNKLE, A.C.S.W.,L.I.S.W.

CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER

ANDREW PETER BEEBE, Ph.D.

PSYCHOLOGIST

JOHN R. O'CONNOR, L.I.S.W.

KEVIN P. MARTIN, M.D.

MARTHA A. WEBB, M.A., C.C.D.C. JANE MILLER, L.S.W.

PEG CONWAY L.I.S.W., C.C.D.C.

A lesbian and gay psychotherapy practice

12429 Cedar Road, Suite 23 Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44106

216/229-2100

BEDFORD TRUCK RENTAL

Local & One Way Truck Rentals

Present this ad for a $10 Discount on Local Rental $25 Discount on One Way Rental

Please call Carol or Sue for reservations at 786-9355

618 Broadway Bedford, Ohio 44146

WOMEN'S WELLNESS CENTER OF BEDFORD Hypnotherapy/Psychotherapy

Stress, Smoking, Weight Management Female Vietnam Veteran Counselor

O Female Law Enforcement Counselor Massage Therapy

Self-Defense & Yoga Instruction Individuals, Couples, Groups & Businesses For Appointments Call Vera or Carol Evening Appointments Available 786-7730 618 Broadway Ave. Bedford

Bring your home into the 90's! Why spend all the time and effort trying to make your space look

FABULOUS

*consultations*

*complete renovations* *color concepts*

FACE LIFTS BY JOE

call

HOME ENVIRONMENTS

651-4685 Joseph A. Smith