A Decade of Theatre Criticism by Lin Kehuan
Theatre across the Chinese-speaking world is vibrant and diverse, offering a wealth of exploration in both content and form.
How do we discern the interplay of belief and doubt, good and evil in the theatre?
Amidst the chaos and turbulence of the modern world, where values seem increasingly blurred, what power does contemporary theatre hold?
Lin Kehuan, a renowned scholar of Chinese-language theatre, is a towering figure in the field. With an extensive body of work and over a million words of criticism, Lin has dedicated his career to the study and education of Chinese theatre. His critiques weave together the twin strands of original Chinese plays and translated productions, forming a dual helix of exploration.
This collection features Lin’s essays from 2007 onwards, offering insights into landmark theatrical works and significant artists. It reveals how theatre engages with modern life, the contemporary world, and the intellectual currents of our time, guiding readers into a space of public discourse on truth, doubt, good, and evil.
We live in a post-truth era, where the lines between reality and surreality, truth and virtuality, are increasingly blurred and difficult to define. Global consumer culture has overwhelmed values, ideals, trust, morality, responsibility, human connection, and love—reducing them all to commodities on Double 11 shopping platforms, promoted by celebrity influencers. What we face is not only an increasingly complex world but also increasingly complex human nature. Yet, despite all this, I have not lost faith in theatre.
──Lin Kehuan
In this fractured age, where values and beliefs are constantly shaken, and memory and history are violently torn apart, theatre offers us a refuge of possibility. Truth, doubt, good, and evil—what Lin Kehuan observes is not only the shifting dynamics of humanity on stage or between characters but also himself embedded within it. Through his writing, he carves out with honesty and sharpness the essence of theatre in this era.
──Bernice Chan, General Manager, International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong)
Author: Lin Kehuan
Organiser and editor: Bernice Chan*
Editor: Lina Xie
Executive editor: Yeung Po-lam*, Kwok Ka-ki*#
Design: Deep Mok@Deep Workshop
* International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong) employee
# The Arts Production Internship Scheme is funded by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Publisher: International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong) Limited
Co-publisher and distributor: Typesetter Publishing Company
Edition: First edition, June 2021
ISBN: 978-988-74320-3-6
Page: 820 (3 volumes)
Price: HK$258
Content
Author’s Preface
Editor’s Note
Beliefs
Historical Imagination and Narrative Patterns: Reflections on the New Version of Boundless Movement
Shifting Perspectives and Laughter Beyond the Surface: An Interpretation of a MicroSex Office
Structural Irony and the Collapse of Narrative: A Brief Review of the Narrative Strategy in Show Flat
Life and Death, Meetings Through Time: On I Have a Date with Spring and I Have a Date with Autumn
Dreams of Youth, the Youth of Dreams: Thoughts on P.E.Period 2.0
The Parable of 1941: A Review of 1941 Girl
Loyalty Disintegrated: An Interpretation of The 108 Heroes: The Hall of Loyalty
Despair as Delusion, Same as Hope: Reflections on The Wasteland
The Miserable Life of Yuan Datou: Suffering and Satire in Wotou Courtyard
Sliding Between Good and Evil, Beyond Humanity: Insights and Misplacements in The Good Person of Beijing
Spatial Composition and Narrative Approach: On the Direction and Stage Design of the New Version of Death of a Salesman
Returning to the Past and Expanding the Future: Reflections on The Classic of Mountains and Seas
Biography and Poetry: The Artistic Exploration of the Play Qi Gong
Flickering Stars and Shaking Earth: Impressions of Hamlet
The Sorrow of the Sea of Flowers: Musings After Watching Carnations
Lessons from the Moscow Art Theatre: Reviews of The Cherry Orchard, The White Guard, and Live and Remember
Lanterns Shaking in the Night Wind: Reflections on Outside the Door
Wings Returning Home: Impressions of The Dove of Jerusalem
The Tragedy and Heroism of Brothers and Sisters
State of Siege: Living Resolutely in Absurdity
The Children’s Dream: Suffering, Dreams, and Death
Doubt
Vulgarity as a Cultural Stance: Thoughts and Analysis of Challenge Arena
Instinctive Impulse vs. Civilised Constraints: A Review of The Horse
The Vanishing Subject and Absurd Life: Reviews of Three Tall Women and Attempts on her Life
Old Stories Never Age: Reflections on the Revival of All Because of the Dragon Robe
Feeling the Ephemerality of Life Is the Start of Seriousness: Watching The Dispute in Hong Kong
Fragmented Hamlet: An Analysis of Hamletmachine
Absurdity and Bewilderment: Musings on Dust to Dust
Searching…: An Analysis of Six Characters in Search of an Author
Gazing at Heaven, Heading for Hell: Watching The Imperial Express in Beijing
Dual Coding in Teahouse 2.0
On Forging the Sword: “Intricate Depth in Trivial Matters”
Cross-dressing and Alienation: On the Creation and Performance of Sun Feihu’s Marriage Snatch
The Stunning Einstein on the Beach
Dim Light in a Mediocre World: An Analysis of a Scene from The Wedding
Echoes of Emptiness in Thunder: Watching Wilson’s Krapp’s Last Tape
Tragic Experience and Cross-Cultural Fusion: Notes from the 6th Theatre Olympics
Liliom: Harmonising the Discordant
Drums in the Night: The Efficacy and Limits of Alienation
Goodness
Theatre and Revolution: Reflections on The Nameless Monument
Fragments and Plans: The Structure and Ideas of Love and the Purple Hairpin
Depth in Silence: Reflections on the Revival of The Last Supper
Hu Xueyan, My Dear: The Historian’s Sentiment
Modern Allegory of Sliding Morality: A Review of the Musical The Good Person of Sichuan
Sincerity as the Soul of Performance: Watching When Fifteen, Twenty in Youth in Hong Kong
Opportunities of Survival and Choices of Destiny: Reflections on The Legend of Lyra
A New Starting Point for Professionalism: Reflections on In a Bamboo Grove
Humour with Compassion: Five Stories by Lao She Reviewed
Blurred Memories and Historical Truth: Reflections on A Village on Treasure Island
Where Does Spring Return?: A Review of Spring in a Small Town
Extreme Love, Extreme Beauty: A Review of Suzuki’s Cyrano de Bergerac
Facing the Echoes of History: Reflections on Shen Wei’s Dance Re- (I, II, III)
The Reality and Illusion of Pure Dance: From Mirror, Flower, Circle to Six Degrees
Grief That Makes a Dancer Great: Remembering Pina Bausch
A Life Devoted to Theatre: Commemorating the 120th Anniversary of Ouyang Yuqian’s Birth
An Actor and an Era: Remembering Yu Shizhi
He Creates Theatre in Heaven: Remembering Wang Gui
Remembering Tong Daoming: A Smile as Light as a Feather
Mastery Without Limits: Remembering Lin Zhaohua
The Treasure of Dreams: Preface to Wang Gui Chats Theatre
Farewell to a Revolutionary Age: Preface to Lean Left: Human Affairs
Wandering Between Darkness and Sacredness: Preface to Chan Chi Wah’s Enough Black
Chaotic Emotions and the Meaning of Life: Preface to Dare to Feel: Chan Kam Kuen’s Script Collection
Standing Before a Grand Historical Backdrop: Preface to Chan Wan Ying Drama Collection Vol. 3
Evil
Titus Andronicus 2.0 An Anti-Theatrical Play
The Faustian Spirit and Mephistophelean Abyss: A Speech at the Reading of The Devil’s Pact
Parody and Engagement: Gains and Losses of The Emperor’s One-Year Dream
Elegant Vulgarity: A Review of Berliner Ensemble’s The Threepenny Opera
Jedermann: Medieval Morality Play Meets Postmodern Rock
Lyubimov: Faith, Doubt, Good, and Evil on Stage—A Review of The Possessed
Frenzied Movements and Dense Words: Interpreting Trust
The Government Inspector: Transgressive Performance and Reconstructed Meaning
Why Is Falstaff So Captivating?: Watching Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V
Richard III: Theatrical Games and Historical Scars
Faust in an Age of Mediocrity: A Review of Slovenia’s Faust
Comedy of Fear: The Complex Emotions of The Government Inspector
Deconstruction and Reconstruction: A Review of the Two Ding, One Smile Production of The Maids
The Pillowman: A Dark Fairytale for Adults
Beijingers and the “Beijingers”
Discussion
Entertainment First vs. Artistic Integrity: Impressions of Hong Kong Theatre
Hungry Art and the Hunger for Art
Theatre as News and News as Theatre
The Texture of History: Reflections on Yellow Flowers on the Slanting Road
Historical Sensibility and Realism
Performing Arts and Performance Theory
Standing on Literature’s Shoulders: On Adaptation
On & On, and Keep Moving On and On!
The True Story of Ah Q and Contemporary Comedy
Three Short Reviews: As Big as a Cockroach, Three Sisters and Their Brother and a Cricket, A Spider Meditating on the Roof
The Rough Aesthetics of Jin Zhi Theatre
Modern Change, Dreamlike Expression: Sixty Years of Drama
Drama in the 1980s
The Fictional Real
From Drama to Theatricality: Drama as a Historical Category
Another Kind of Narrative: Postmodernism and Theatre
Carrying Forward Lao She’s Dramatic Spirit: An Unfinished Task
Theatre in 2019: New Excitement and Old Problems
Appendices
Dr Lin Kehuan: Expanding Horizons—The Importance of Theatre Research and Criticism
Lin Kehuan: Walking in Others’ Footsteps—Wolf’s Skin Doesn’t Fit the Dog
Lin Kehuan: Many Aspirations for the Remaining Years
About the author
Lin Kehuan
A renowned theatre scholar and National First-Class Critic, Lin Kehuan has held various prestigious roles, including Director of the Literary Department, Dean, and Artistic Director of the China Youth Art Theatre; Executive Vice President of the China Theatre Arts Research Association; Honorary President of the Chinese Theatre Literature Society; and Artistic Advisor to the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre.
His works include co-authored plays such as Turning Point and The Newsboy, as well as academic publications like The Slanted Stage, The Theory of Theatrical Expression, Theatre Hong Kong: Hong Kong Theatre, and Concepts and Techniques of Theatrical Expression. His essay collections include Interrogation and Play, Theatre in the Age of Consumerism, and The Fragmented Era of Theatre. He has also edited books such as The Stage Art of “Red Nose”, Selected Taiwanese Plays, The Directorial Art of Lin Zhaohua, and Wu Xue: Seventy Years in Theatre.
Lin has published over 3 million words of art criticism, literary essays, cultural discourse, and aesthetic theory in more than 200 domestic and international journals.