Acting the Right Part: Political Theater and Popular Drama in Contemporary China (review)

Xiaomei Chen's long-awaited book on Cultural Revolution and early post-Mao theater in China is undoubtedly an important contribution to the field, particularly with regard to its rich coverage of "model theater" during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), a period habitually overlooked—if not virtually dismissed—by other scholars. In her examination of the political and the popular in works ranging from didactic propaganda dramas and operas to Western works produced by Chinese artists as the newly imported huaju (spoken drama) form progressed, Chen provides superb textual detail and analysis, accompanied by discussions of the larger social contexts of theater activity in the highly politicized public realm of contemporary mainland China.

Chen's unique background as a child of theater practitioners (her mother was an actress and her father a set designer) and an actual participant in revolutionary street drama during her youth and adolescence allows her to provide an "insider's" view of these cultural practices. On the other hand, in her candid positioning of herself in relation to her scholarship, Chen limits the scope of her project by exploring resources primarily from the community directly surrounding her family's experiences. Her view of theater activity in China becomes increasingly distant when examining theater after the early 1980s, at which point her approach shifts from a partial ethnography to a purely literary study, with analysis based solely on official published sources rather than archival materials, interviews, or personal participation in (or viewings of) performances. Furthermore, with the exception of one play mentioned in the book's final pages, the past fourteen years of contemporary theater in China are virtually absent. As a cultural history of theater in mainland China during and just after the Cultural Revolution—rather than a comprehensive study of contemporary Chinese theater— Chen's project is remarkable for its insights about the plays, their contexts, and their connection to social issues including class, gender, and national identity.

Quite rightly pointing out that the study of huaju is severely marginalized by scholars of both theater and comparative literature (pp. 18-25), Chen herself runs the risk of marginalizing Shanghai—and even two other major theater companies in Beijing—by privileging the activity of Beijing's China Youth Art Theater, of which her parents were members. She states: "Due to the complexity of copyright issues, I was not able to use stage photos of other theaters in China. Not being able to include their performance photos does not in any way suggest a lack of respect for their work. On the contrary, I hope this book does justice to the significance of all the theaters in China that inspired it in the first place" (p. xi). There are no visuals in the book after page 181, or any that represent theater activity after 1979, and no huaju production photographs from any theater besides the China Youth Art Theater. Chen's disclaimer was unsettling to this reviewer, who has purchased and received permission to publish countless photographs from every theater company in Beijing and Shanghai throughout the past decade with absolutely no copyright complications, and has found their archives and artists extremely accessible for research and interviews. While Chen's emphasis is understandable in her effort to acknowledge her parents' contributions and because of her personal access to materials from the China Youth Art Theater, the implication that activities and circumstances of other theater companies in China could not be as easily studied and reflected in the book is erroneous and unfortunate.

In spite of its emphasis on the practice of theater in its opening pages and recurring references to the potential affective power of audience reception throughout, Acting the Right Part remains primarily a literary study, based on close textual analysis that segues into discussions of gender representation and other issues. Information from official sources privileges...