Soul of Beijing Opera, The: Theatrical Creativity and Continuity in the Changing World

Ruru Li

The book looks at the evolution of Beijing Opera’s singing and performance styles, make-up and costume, audience demands, as well as stage and street presentation modes amid tumultuous social and political changes.

Related Subjects

• Drama

About the Author

Li, Ruru is senior lecturer in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds (UK). Brought up in a Beijing Opera actress family, she received some basic training when she was ten. She runs Chinese theatre workshops and regards regular contact with the theatre as essential to her academic work. Having written extensively on Shakespeare performance in China (including a monograph Shashibiya: Staging Shakespeare in China 2003) and on Chinese theatre (both modern and traditional), she has recently concentrated on performer and performance of Beijing Opera, publishing in both Chinese and English.

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