Hong Shen and Modern Chinese and Foreign Drama in the Twentieth Century

Author: Fan Fangjun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: This book is divided into two parts: The first part discusses Hong Shen as one of the founders of modern Chinese theater. In his decades-long theatrical practice, he made foundational contributions to modern Chinese theater in three aspects: writing, directing, and performing. To comprehensively and meticulously present Hong Shen's significant influence on modern Chinese theater, this part adopts the traditional method of dividing modern Chinese theater into three decades, discussing his foundational work in writing, directing, and performing for modern Chinese theater in three stages. The second part explains that modern Chinese theater was born through the exchange and collision with modern Western theater. On one hand, modern Chinese theater is inevitably influenced by modern Western theater, and some major issues faced in modern Western theater are also shared by modern Chinese theater. On the other hand, modern Chinese theater is ultimately rooted in the Chinese reality soil, a localized theater with Chinese characteristics, and in its intersection with modern Western theater, theoretical topics naturally arise concerning the relationship between modern Chinese theater and modern Western theater. This part selects several issues Hong Shen focused on when discussing modern theater, such as the modernity, nationality, and contemporaneity of theater, and discusses them separately.