| In the political and economic reforms of the 1980s, it was inevitable that huaju (spoken drama) would change along with China. Huaju directors took Chinese contemporary theatre in a new direction---a movement that came to be called "Exploration Theatre." Directors created a synthesis of stage languages as they discovered new possibilities in their expression, and experimented with various non-realistic presentations on stage. Their reaction against Socialist Realism was fundamental to the evolution of this movement, as was their insistence that huaju, as an art form, should not be used as a political tool. In their experiments, they tried to discover the artistic essence of huaju and staged the milestone productions of Exploration Theatre.; First, this dissertation gives the historical context of huaju in China during the 1980s, and describes the artistic and political climate in which the directors of Exploration Theatre mounted productions. It then identifies and explicates the aesthetic and ideological/theoretical concerns of these directors and their fellow artists, focusing on questions of style, and of stylistic influences from xiqu and Western theatre practitioners such as Brecht, Grotowski, and Meyerhold. Finally, it examines the specific practices of Exploration Theatre, including directorial approach, play structure, stage design, mise-en-scene, and acting, as well as the critical, popular, and official reception of the productions selected for study.; Exploration Theatre was circumscribed and eventually suppressed by censorship from the Chinese government; some leaders thought it violated the rules of Socialist Realism and expressed bad influences from the West. Under the "Anti-bourgeois-liberalization" (Fan zichanjieji ziyouhua) and "Anti-Spiritual Pollution" (Fan jingshen wuran) campaigns, a number of plays and productions were prohibited. Nonetheless, the Exploration Theatre movement inspired huaju artists to strive for their own unique, individual artistic expressions, and substantially expanded the conception and expressive capacity of China's huaju theatre form. |
