This weekend, the Penny Dreadful Players will be performing “M. Butterfly,” a play that deals with ethnicity and gender dynamics between the East and the West. In the play, a Frenchman falls in love with a Chinese opera singer named Song, who turns out to be a communist spy. PDP Actor Charlie Johnson, who plays the male lead, talks about the way his character reacts to his relationship with Song.

“He’s very self-conscious, and it’s in this self-consciousness that he kind of lashes out at, in this case, an Asian woman. I think it really kind of interesting commentary on just racism as a whole. It’s not necessarily in this case that he believes in superiority of one race over another. It’s just that he’s so self-conscious about himself that he’s gonna’ lash out at anybody’s who’s different.”

The play’s director, Crystal Lasky, says that the play is a lot of fun to watch, but it also has an important message for the audience.

“I should hope that they come away with a better understanding of how people interact with each other. Even if not necessarily understanding, but you know, at least trying to think about it. Maybe they’d even discuss stuff, amongst themselves.”

“M. Butterfly” will be performed for this one weekend only, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm in the Gregory Hall Theater. Tickets are just five dollars at the door so be sure not to miss out!