How To Use the Chinese Theater Collaborative
CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION
We organize each chapter around a series of different productions. While the original plays may be old, these modern renditions are a product of their own modern moment. As such they are but the latest chapter of a dynamic and freewheeling culture of theatrical adaptation.Hence, we do not aspire to illustrate a transhistorical or authoritative essence that underwrites individual Chinese plays or the corpus of traditional theater as a whole. Instead, the variety of adaptations is meant to show the vitality and potential for creativity and innovation inherent in the transmission of traditional plays. Accordingly, we provide a plot summary for each production because modern versions, even within the corpus of traditional performance styles, may have radically altered the contours and details of a play as first published in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties (fourteenth through nineteenth centuries).
TRADITIONALITY AND INNOVATION
To be sure, some versions of traditional live theater present themselves within a framework of traditionality and their practitioners are proud of the deep historical roots of their performance styles. We seek to honor that curatorial impulse in featuring some iconic renditions while also acknowledging that neo-traditional or brand new interpretations across media may be just as important in the global conversation inspired by traditional Chinese plays.Therefore, we recommend to use this site as a springboard for discussion rather than as an attempt to simply enshrine definitive interpretations of the Chinese theatrical corpus.