The true story that inspired David Hwang's play "M Butterfly", about a French diplomat, Bernard Boursicot, posted to Peking, who fell in love with a seductive opera singer, named Shi Pei Pu, apparently unaware that Pei Pu was a man. Their liaison "produced" a son, and led them into espionage and finally to gaol in France. Joyce Wadler spent four years researching the story, and finally persuaded Boursicot to break his silence and explain his side of the story. The film version of Hwang's play is being directed by David Cronenberg and stars Jeremy Irons.