The Role of Dramaturgy between Production Teams, Critics and Audiences in the Transitional Society of China

Abstract

Dramaturgy research has received considerable attention in Western countries over the last two decades, and a number of scholars have observed and analysed the development of dramaturgy in Germany, the UK, the US and Australia in various ways. Compared to Western countries, however, research into dramaturgy in China is still an emerging field with few published outcomes.

This thesis examines the role of dramaturgy in the context of contemporary Chinese theatre. Drawing on the development of dramaturgy in different social, political and cultural contexts, the thesis will first reassess the role of dramaturgy in other theatre cultures by concentrating on German and Anglo-Saxon dramaturgical theories and practices. Then, given the tremendous societal transition in China over the last century, the thesis charts a history of spoken drama (Huaju) from its origins in 1907 to the current stage by chronological comparison to establish a trajectory from the hybrid foreign influence on the origin of Huaju to the way of self-exploration with Chinese characteristics. This thesis will also offer three dramaturgical case studies: the reception of Henrik Ibsen’s work in Chinese theatre through different periods; the 1983 production of Miller’s Death of a Salesman in Beijing; and the writing, staging, revival and restaging of the play Teahouse. This will be followed by an analysis of the role of dramaturgy in the current performance context in China, extending from re-evaluating the different translations of the word dramaturgy into Chinese, to comparing dramaturgical practices in contemporary spoken drama and dance theatre. This chapter is based on fieldwork and interviews with both theatre educators and practitioners in Beijing and Shanghai to examine the difficulties they have been confronting and the breakthroughs they have achieved.