Set Points

Following such recent fare as The Last Emperor and Nixon in China comes David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly. The Broadway drama is based on a true, recent story about the romantic obsession—and espionage trial—of a French diplomat and a Peking Opera diva. The production should interest those familiar with its versatile director, John Dexter, whose range extends from grand opera (he helped run the Met in the seventies) to the legitimate theater (Equus). But perhaps most intriguing is the participation of Eiko Ishioka (at right) as set and costume designer. The wizard art director must evoke not only the traditionalist splendor of Mei Lanfang (China's Callas in the 1930s) but also Maoist chic and the power mufti of 'Western bureaucrats.

LISA LIEBMANN