'M. Butterfly' opens at San Francisco Playhouse exploring love, power and identity

SAN FRANCISCO - The Tony Award-winning play "M. Butterfly" is opening this week at the San Francisco Playhouse, bringing a story of love, power, seduction and deception to Bay Area audiences.

The production follows French diplomat René Gallimard, who becomes involved in a decades-long relationship while stationed in Beijing. Actor Dean Linnard, who plays Gallimard, said the story quickly becomes more complex than a traditional romance.

What they're saying:

"So I play a French diplomat named René Gallimard who's stationed in Beijing and there he meets and falls in love with and begins this wild 20-year affair with a Chinese opera singer," Linnard said. "But what starts as a very simple straightforward love affair soon spirals into this whole web wildly swirling sort of cacophony of identity and deception and all sorts of different colors all swirling into one."

Linnard describes Gallimard as a romantic driven by his search for connection and idealized love.

"I think Rene is a romantic. I think he is in love with the idea of love and he loves music, he loves art, he loves color and symphonies and he's looking for that sort of dream reality in a world that doesn't always appreciate that kind of colorful imagination," Linnard said. "But he's, at the end of the day, he's a lover. He wants to find love, he wants to found perfect affection and he is willing to fight for that at whatever cost it might be."

The inspiration:

The play is loosely connected to Puccini’s opera "Madama Butterfly," but this production aims to stand out visually and stylistically, Linnard said, pointing to the direction by Bridget Loriaux.

"Our production has this incredible kinetic visual language," Linnard said. "The show really combines all these different elements. There's a little bit of melodrama, a little of espionage, thriller, heartbreak, comedy. It's all these things."

Linnard said Loriaux’s movement-based directing style gives the show a cinematic quality.

"What Bridget, as a director, has been able to do is create this beautiful swirling almost cinematic energy to the show so that all the pieces are spiraling in this beautiful dance of different elements," he said.

Tapping the audience:

The production also emphasizes direct audience connection, with Linnard frequently speaking directly to theatergoers.

"Whenever you have direct address in a play, it's a thrilling and somewhat terrifying proposition because you're connecting directly with the audience," Linnard said. "You open that door. You don't know exactly what's going to come in through it."

Early performances have already helped build that connection, he said.

"We just started performances this week and already I'm developing this wonderful connection to the people that are coming to hear this story being able to look directly into their eyes," Linnard said.

The intimate size of the San Francisco Playhouse adds to that experience, he said.

"It feels like we're all in the same living room telling the story together," Linnard said.

Exploring humanity:

Despite its complex themes, Linnard said the story ultimately centers on love and human connection.

"At the end of the day, it is a love story," Linnard said. "Things are tough out in the world. And right now, to be able to spend a couple hours with people who are fighting for love and trying to define love for themselves and for one another, there's something very healing in that and something very cathartic in that."

The play also explores race, gender and identity — themes Linnard said remain relevant decades after the play first premiered.

"The play is from the 1980s. It won the Tony Award. It was a Pulitzer finalist back then, and it's fascinating to find a way to bring it into the present moment," Linnard said. "What does it mean to do this play in San Francisco in 2026 for this audience in this moment?"

"M. Butterfly" officially opens Wednesday, Feb. 11, and runs through March 14 at the San Francisco Playhouse near Union Square. Tickets are available through the theater’s website, sfplayhouse.org.