M. Butterfly
Closed 2h 0m
M. Butterfly
76

M. Butterfly NYC Reviews and Tickets

76%
(333 Ratings)
Positive
78%
Mixed
18%
Negative
4%
Members say
Great acting, Absorbing, Thought-provoking, Ambitious, Disappointing

About the Show

David Henry Hwang's Tony Award-winning play comes back to Broadway in a new production directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor and starring Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award winner Clive Owen.

Read more Show less

Show-Score Member Reviews (333)

Sort by:
  • Default
  • Standing in our community
  • Highest first
  • Lowest first
  • Newest first
  • Oldest first
  • Only positive
  • Only negative
  • Only mixed
93 Reviews | 8 Followers
100
Must see, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if want to watch great acting and a great play..

Don't see it if do not like drama..

120 Reviews | 12 Followers
100
Absorbing, Entertaining, Great acting, Masterful, Intense

See it if Great acting, twisted story, surprise ending (if you can't figure it out in advance)

Don't see it if you don't like straight acting or prefer musicals

224 Reviews | 43 Followers
95
Absorbing, Great acting, Masterful, Must see, Thought-provoking

See it if You like great actors and a compelling story told in a unique way.

Don't see it if You are offended by brief nudity and an unconventional story.

209 Reviews | 150 Followers
95
Great acting, Masterful, Riveting, Romantic

See it if You want to see an emotionally & exotically charged drama with hilarity.Dancing and costumes were brilliant.Jin Ha&Clive were electrifying

Don't see it if You are not into nudity & explicit sexual talk Read more

154 Reviews | 19 Followers
95
Ambitious, Enchanting, Entertaining, Great acting, Thought-provoking

See it if you like any of the actors, want to see a refreshing revival and interesting plots, and tragic love stories

Don't see it if you are expecting an exact retelling of Madame Butterfly, you don't like male or female nudity, or don't like the fourth wall broken Read more

311 Reviews | 45 Followers
94
Absorbing, Entertaining, Great acting, Riveting

See it if My friends and I had all seen the show in 1988 and we loved the revival. Clive Owens is terrific as is Jin Ha. I liked the sets as well.

Don't see it if You are pining for John Lithgow. It seems some reviewers are.

570 Reviews | 87 Followers
94
Absorbing, Clever, Edgy, Great staging, Great acting

See it if you like great acting.Clive Owen's incredible.He hits every emotional color.Set is constantly changing, leaving us off balance,like the play

Don't see it if you want a story wrapped up with a bow.This leaves you wondering about sexualtiy,love,fantasy.If we love, does it matter if it's an illusion

99 Reviews | 17 Followers
93
Absorbing, Great acting, Great staging, Great writing, Riveting

See it if You want a play that keeps you second guessing until the very end. Insanely talented performances by Clive Owen and Jin Ha. GO SEE NOW

Don't see it if You don’t want to be enthralled in fantastic theatre for 2.5 hours

Critic Reviews (53)

The New York Times
October 26th, 2017

"'M. Butterfly' returns to Broadway on heavier, drabber wings...Hwang more than implicitly compares Gallimard’s dim vision regarding his love object to the unrealistic beliefs that Western countries hold about the East...For 'M. Butterfly' to have emotional impact, it must make its audiences uneasily complicit in that fantasy. In this version, you always maintain the distance...We’re not being seduced, but preached at."
Read more

Time Out New York
October 26th, 2017

"'M. Butterfly' remains provocative and timely, with a great deal to unpack—in part because Hwang has stuffed it with new information...These changes help shift the storytelling away from symbolism and toward a more specific account of a particular relationship...Aside from lively dance sequences, there are few spectacular flourishes. Not all of the directorial choices make immediate sense...But even at its most confusing—not to say inscrutable—the revival commands fascination."
Read more

New York Magazine / Vulture
October 26th, 2017

"Strangely uneven...Despite compelling performances by both leads—especially Ha—both play and production wander into clunkiness and confusion...Hwang and Taymor often struggle to convey the specific reality in which events are occurring...Hwang’s observations feel suspended—like little islands of incisive commentary in a stream that hasn’t entirely found its flow...The show often seems to be floating just above something truly powerful, looking for a place to land."
Read more

The Wall Street Journal
October 26th, 2017

"Ms. Taymor’s revival isn’t remotely worthy of Mr. Hwang’s subtle meditation on male desire and the inability of Westerners to understand the Asian mind, and Mr. Owen is so miscast that it’s easy to forget how fine an actor he can be under more favorable circumstances...Jin Ha, by contrast, is astonishing...Were the rest of this production half as impressive as his performance, it would be worth paying any price to see."
Read more

Deadline
October 26th, 2017

"Both visually and intellectually, this revival is a wholesale departure from John Dexter’s original production, a decision that turns out to have been wise choosing. This 'M. Butterfly' is every bit as memorable as the original...This conventional style for such an unconventional script has the salubrious effect of throwing the action into high relief, and allows both Owen and Jin Ha to shine; they’re mesmerizing...A heated, intensely provocative show. It never lets up."
Read more

New York Daily News
October 26th, 2017

"Between a wan star turn, a clumsy staging and nagging issues that remain even with a revised script, the revival at the Cort Theatre frustrates and falls flat...There’s no mystery or ambiguity in Owen’s portrait...Taymor's work here is short on passion and inspiration...If you’re determined to see a fully satisfying Broadway play, 'M. Butterfly' isn’t the right specimen."
Read more

Variety
October 26th, 2017

"Gorgeous if oddly unmoving...Owen seems deeply haunted by Gallimard’s forbidden love for Song Liling; but his earnest attempt to play the character’s sexual uncertainty is ultimately unconvincing. Taymor has shielded Hwang’s poetry from being overwhelmed by the sheer theatricality of the story...By fortifying the scenes that frame the love story, Taymor has also strengthened the political undercurrents of the play."
Read more

The Hollywood Reporter
October 26th, 2017

"The bluntness and lack of poetry in Taymor's sluggish 'M. Butterfly' revival are no fault of the talented Jin Ha, who plays Song with an enigmatic air..Owen's dour Gallimard is more hamstrung by the production's approach...M. Butterfly remains a provocative drama...But in their counterintuitive attempt to make the play relevant for an audience more versed in the complexities of gender and racial politics, Taymor and Hwang have inadvertently undercut its pathos."
Read more