Royal Opera stages Madama Butterfly with changes to respect Japanese culture

Revival of Puccini classic seeks to be both true to the spirit of the original and authentic in its representation'

It's a dramatic masterpiece and a key component of any opera house's core repertory - but Madama Butterfly was also a product of its time, riddled with stereotypes and racist depictions of Asian people.

So what does it mean to stage Giacomo Puccini's 1904 classic in 2022? That's the question the Royal Opera House set out to answer when it launched a year-long consultation on how to better respect Japanese culture in its production.