Communities of Imagination: Contemporary Southeast Asian Theatres

Contents

Contents Preface and Acknowledgments vii inTroDUCTion 1 PART I The Growing Impact of Women 1 Mae Naak and Phra Ram: Keeping Company on the Contemporary Thai Stage 27 2 Staging the Doi Moi Generation and the Treasures of Vietnamese Tradition 60 3 Looking Within: The Balinese Rwa Bhineda and Readjusting Complementary Opposites 91 PART II Censorship and Global Economics 4 Cambodia’s Artistic Renaissance or a New Culture of Dependency? 121 5 Singapore’s Cosmopolitan Identity and Its Theatrical Shadow 151 6 Dancing with the Censors: Burmese Performing Arts Keep Time 184 PART III Toward a National Culture 7 The Philippine Theatre’s Quest for a Hero(ine) 215 8 From Fa Ngoum to Hip-Hop Boom: The Faces of Lao Performance 246 9 Durians, Diversity, and Independence: The Malaysian Theatre Stages Its Multiethnic Heritage 276 ConClUSion 309 Notes 331 Bibliography 359 Index 377 ...