RAYLYNMOR OPERA "MADAME BUTTERFLY"
In 2018, Raylynmor Opera of Peterborough NH in partnership with the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire took a closer look at Madame Butterfly and introduced the audience to a rare and intimate performance of the tragic romance between a young Japanese girl and her American lover. The performance and interpretive talk by Ben Robinson, the Raylynmor artistic director who wrote a new, contemporary translation for Madame Butterfly, premiered at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth on March 8, 2018 and was then performed again in Peterborough. The one-night-only, free event featured a 70-minute intimate preview of Madame Butterfly, with sung excerpts, fascinating historical context and dramatic insight.
“This unusual performance explores how the relationship between Japan and the United States had changed from when Commodore Perry sailed into Edo Bay in 1853 up to the start of the Russo-Japanese War, which is when Madame Butterfly premiered,” said Charles B. Doleac, president of the Japan-America Society NH. “At this Puccini-unplugged performance the 3S Artspace venue lets audience members get quite close to the singers and the director, the better to appreciate the voices and the way the story is being interpreted. It’s like a wine tasting of the opera.”
“This unusual performance explores how the relationship between Japan and the United States had changed from when Commodore Perry sailed into Edo Bay in 1853 up to the start of the Russo-Japanese War, which is when Madame Butterfly premiered,” said Charles B. Doleac, president of the Japan-America Society NH. “At this Puccini-unplugged performance the 3S Artspace venue lets audience members get quite close to the singers and the director, the better to appreciate the voices and the way the story is being interpreted. It’s like a wine tasting of the opera.”
