Examining Experimental Theater in Contemporary China

Abstract

This article charts the history of experimental theater in China. In doing so it suggests three heights of experimental theater: the birth of Chinese theater itself as a kind of “experiment” in the late nineteenth century, the establishment of realist “modern drama” in the 1920s, and the resurgence of avant-garde theater in the 1980s to the twenty-first century. Through this genealogy of experimental theater we can elucidate some of the form’s essential qualities. Ultimately, the notion of experimental theater itself is not immutable; rather, it is contingent upon historical and cultural contexts. The strong exploratory and avant-garde spirit of experimental theater has had and will continue to have a profound impact on mainstream theater, and any new developments should be worthy of our attention.