First produced in 2012, the piece was a reworking of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly seen from the point of view of her 26 year old son. We fantasise that he has never been told who his mother was. We imagine that his ‘step-father’ – Pinkerton, has never told him he is his blood-father. We update the back-story to 1925 and the front-story to 1948. And it all takes place in Nagasaki.
So, this is Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton Jnr’s story and well as that of his mother. It’s the story of two cultures and a clash of perceptions.
It was sung and spoken in English, Italian and Japanese.
