Madama Butterfly

For the first time in Perth, Madama Butterfly (directed by Sarah Tipple) tells the story of Cio-Cio-San aka Butterfly, a 15-year-old geisha married to the gutless American Pinkerton who marries, impregnates, then abandons her, just to return three years later, take her child and essentially take her life.

Anthony’s Minghella’s original Butterfly, English soprano Mary Plazas, reprises the role while Adam Diegel portrays Pinkerton. The audience favourites however are undoubtedly Sharpless (Jonathan Summers) and Suzuki (Maria Zifchak) – the ever-compassionate yet realistic supporting characters. Arguably, the casting falls a little short with Plazas, a middle-aged English Caucasian woman portraying a 15-year-old geisha, while Diegel, a half-Korean man portrays the blue-eyed American. This is forgivable however considering opera is famed for relying heavily on the suspension of disbelief, especially considering Butterfly’s two-year-old son is a Bunraku puppet, masterfully manoeuvred by stealth puppeteers in all black.

The set is stunning yet quite minimal with Shoji screens manipulating the space while floating lanterns, hanging petals and saturated lighting create immersive environments on stage. The score offers slight nods to the East and subtly incorporates The Star-Spangled Banner during Butterfly’s moments of misaligned American patriotism, if not only to consolidate the tragedy of a 15-year-old girl’s adoration of a life she was never going to have.

His Majesty’s Theatre to 7 Mar