Diversionary Theatre and the Asian American Repertory Theatre (AART) have finally come together to co-produce M. Butterfly, David Henry Hwang’s brilliant play based upon a true story that stunned the world and continues to intrigue audiences today.

Diversionary and AART make interesting bedfellows in this co-production, unabashedly stealing from one another’s expertise to walk down a potentially precarious cultural path.

Fueled by an international newspaper story about an espionage trial, M. Butterfly recounts diplomat Rene Gallimard’s surreal, provocative account of a 20-year affair with a Chinese diva who turned out to be a Chinese spy with a working penis.

It appears that Monsieur Gallimard, charmingly played by Jesse MacKinnon, has caught the “Yellow Fever” and fallen head over lotus blossoms in love with an Oriental fantasy stereotype called Song Liling (Diep Huynh). The story allows for not only a political confrontation of Eastern and Western cultural ideas, but also allows for Hwang to successfully create a deconstructivist Madame Butterfly in the process.

The sexual and cultural misconceptions are neatly layered in this heartfelt drama that unfolds with two Kurogo Dancers surrounding Song Liling in a mime dance that nicely underscores the fact that love is “as elusive as a butterfly.”

In a series of flashbacks, Gallimard speaks to us from his Parisian jail cell and tells his story. The story segues from his jail cell, to the Peking Theatre, to his apartment in Beijing, and a courthouse in Paris. Credit must be given to scenic designer Amanda Stephens who incorporated elements of the old China, the encroachment of the French, and even the juxtaposition of water and earth in her overall set design.

Director Doren Elias does a formidable job with his cast. Sheparding a cast as divergent as the characters are drawn in this play was not an easy task, and Elias succeeds on many levels.

The character of Song Liling (Diep Huynh) is especially challenging because of the intimacy of the theatre space. The illusion of the character’s femininity has to be conveyed in a very subtle manner. Huynh is effective both as the Chinese diva and the homosexual male lover.

For that matter, the entire cast held their own. With little actual time on stage and playing multiple roles, Jonathan Dunn-Rankin, Manuel J. Fernandez and Melissa Fernandez also do an exceptional job.

Perhaps the lighting design could have been gelled to offer a softer, more exotic treatment that would have lent more believability to Gallimard’s assertion that Song Liling was a stunningly beautiful female. But then again, the audience knows from the beginning that Butterfly is indeed a man, as he demonstrates in an intended striptease that shatters Gallimard’s illusion of the “perfect woman”.

Illusion is sometimes our great ally; in this play that it was Gallimard’s enemy and led to his eventual downfall. But for those of you who still demand fantasy as your main mistress, those desires will find wings in this production.

M. Butterfly plays at Diversionary Theatre through May 8; call 619-220-0097 for tickets or go to www.gaylesbiantimes.com and click on this article for a link to Diversionary’s website.