Spoiler Alert: The Chick is a Dude

Getting to really know someone is an ongoing process, and what Gallimard finds out about his lover after two decades is the subject of the Asian American Association Players’ new production, “M. Butterfly,” opening in November. The script by playwright David Henry Hwang won a Tony Award for its dramatization of the true story of the love affair between a male French diplomat and a Chinese man masquerading as a woman.

Alexander M. Willis ’14, who is a guy, revealed with a grin that he would be playing Song, the Peking-opera-star-turned-spy who seduces the French diplomat. “Gender definition isn’t necessarily important, especially when it comes to love,” he said. But this fluidity is not limited to the characters—the challenge of designing the set was to shift seamlessly between France and China during the mass upheaval of the Cultural Revolution. “One of the messages is metamorphosis and transformation,” said set director Rekha Auguste-Nelson ’13.

Director Ja-Yoon Choe ’12 sees the play as an opportunity to feature a group of students not often seen in major acting roles. “I saw a lack of diversity in theater,” Choe said. “I wanted Asian voices to be more represented.” With “M. Butterfly,” Choe will be resurrecting the AAA Players. According to Athena Louise M. Lao ’12, co-president of the Asian American Association, the theater troupe has been dormant since its most active members graduated several years ago.

But Choe also wants to spark discussion about sexuality and gender roles. “‘Only a man can play a perfect woman because only a man knows what a perfect woman is,’” Choe said, reciting the famous line from the play. “I want people to be challenged. I want people to ask themselves, ‘How am I prevented from seeing the people around me as they are?’”