Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies

<p>This book offers a detailed, comprehensive, and theoretically grounded study of experimental <i>xiqu</i> performances that have taken place in recent decades across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and online platforms.</p><p>Situating these performances within their specific socio-political contexts and historical trajectories, this book explores the question, what defining aesthetics and methodologies characterise experimental <i>xiqu</i> practices, and how do they distinguish themselves from traditional <i>xiqu</i> aesthetics and the ‘intercultural theatre’ paradigm epitomised by the ‘Western story, Eastern body’ approach? A performative theoretical framework is developed to facilitate a thorough examination of the evolution of <i>xiqu</i> from the last millennium to modern times, with particular focus on the 20th century. The primary objectives of this investigation are twofold: to establish a nuanced understanding of the dynamic and non-dualistic concept of ‘traditional <i>xiqu’</i>, and to provide a vivid depiction of the diverse soils shaping various experimental <i>xiqu</i> performances. Focusing on aesthetics, this book further conducts detailed performance analyses of <i>The Outcast General</i>, <i>Metamorphosis</i>, <i>Sighing</i> and <i>The Spirits Play Online</i>. This book contends that experimental <i>xiqu</i> performances reveal the deep wounds borne by a significant number of ordinary people. Owing to the discourse of ‘beauty’ surrounding <i>xiqu</i>, the institutional constraints, the dualistic political discourses and, most of all, the as-yet-unconstructed condition of collective cultural trauma within these contexts, all the wounds are touched ‘softly’. Experimental <i>xiqu</i> performances help endure the deep wounds and the unarticulated cultural traumas.</p><p>This book will be of great interest to theatre, performance and opera studies scholars and students.</p>