The Asian mystique continues: Two Chinese-themed plays, one for adults and the other for families, are on local stages this month. The convergence suggests there is still an obsession about the Western perception of the ideal Asian female — exotic, passive, submissive — though the cliches are dismantled by the final curtain.

In the Tony Award-winning drama "M. Butterfly," based on real events, a French diplomat has a 20-year relationship with a woman he believes is the feminine ideal of his fantasy. Surprise! She is actually a he in the robes of a Chinese opera star.

"Mulan: The Woman Warrior," drawn from a Chinese poem that also inspired the widely popular Disney animated musical, showcases a woman who disguises herself as a man to sub for her elderly father to battle in war.

Both shows borrow elements from jingju, the classic Chinese opera form, and rely on Chinese cultural resources for authentic movement, music and wardrobe.

"I think it's feasible, though I had some initial serious doubts when I started working on the character, that someone so singularly focused on his perception of his perfect woman would not know he's a male," said Dwight Martin, producing director at Manoa Valley Theatre, who portrays Rene Gallimard, the clueless Frenchman beguiled by Song Liling, the opera star. Colin Miyamoto portrays the pivotal Chinese beauty with the exotic veneer.

"It sounds like a cliche, but it's the role of a lifetime," said Martin. "It's an extraordinarily crafted play, beautifully written and very compelling."

"This is the part I've wanted to play for years," said Miyamoto, 24, by day a waiter at Romano's Macaroni Grill at Ala Moana Center. "I love the theatricality, the concept, of this production. The way it is written, the audience knows that my character is a man playing a woman."

Miyamoto let his hair grow to shoulder length over the past year, and speaks in a softer and more feminine tone to suggest the gender. "Certain things came easily; like the way the character flirts, manipulates," he said. "But I've had to work on body language — and moving in high heels."

What about the nudity?

"I got a little nervous when I was actually going to do it," he said about the disrobing scene. "But that's so much a part of the play and the character, it seemed like a most natural thing to do."

The production parallels Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madame Butterfly," dealing with forbidden love, and incorporates themes from the original opera to establish mood.

Lyn Kajiwara Ackerman, guest-directing "Butterfly," said Hawai'i's exposure to Chinese opera made it vital for the MVT production to maintain a level of accuracy.

"We brought on Megan Evans, who got her doctorate in jingju from the University of Hawai'i," said Ackerman. "She worked with Colin's dance for the opening in the show; and the University of Hawai'i was quite gracious to allow us to use costumes."

"Mulan" director Harry Wong III said he learned elements of jingju from teachers who helped students learn the rudiments of "Women Generals of the Yang Family," a jingju production that opens Feb. 10 at Kennedy Theatre. One student, Nicholas Logue, was enlisted as a consultant.

"Mulan" uses masks instead of characteristic makeup or head pieces to identify characters. Three actors — Emily Tam, playing the title character, Junior Tesoro and Chi Ho Law — portray members of a wandering troupe of jingju performers, and the saga of Mulan is presented as a story within a story.

For Tam, 28, portraying the woman warrior was an opportunity to stretch.

"I think a lot of kids will come, expecting the Disney film," said Tam. "But once they get hooked into the jingju, I think they'll get locked in. It's very funny, very silly. In the end, Mulan finds her own feminine strength, her own cunning, and it's still very theatrical.

"I mean, we don't really deceive the audience. I have an obvious fake mustache, my hair is tucked into a hat. I try to be boyish, and I've learned some jingju techniques from Nick Logue about masculinity and femininity in the opera."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.