The Knoxville Opera is facing a social media backlash over its hiring of an entirely non-Asian cast for its production of Madame Butterfly, reports 10 News.
Making matters worse to some, Resonate reports the opera used a stock photo of an Asian actress not in the show and another of an Asian actress from a previous production of Madame Butterfly to promote its latest show.
” Besides the fact that Madame Butterfly is already a problematic piece(it’s an Asian-fetish tale about buying a 15-year-old girl for sex), there is literally no excuse for any type of “face” in any type of theatre production in 2019,” wrote Chris Peterson for OnStage Blog.
“This time that we live in now asks and demands of us equality and representation across the board in every aspect,” said H. Caitlin Corbit, the artistic director of the Tennessee Stage Company.
The show only had a two show run and is already closed. The Knoxville Opera has so far not publicly commented on the controversy.
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