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Foreword
Iris Hsin-Chun Tuan’s book, Alternative Theater in Taiwan brings a long-awaited study to the Western performance scholar. The book combines new, innovative theater practices in Taiwan with current interpretive strategies in the EuroAmerican tradition of performance studies. This mixture of performance and critical theories is designed to capture the unique cultural atmosphere of Taiwan, which enjoys a crossroads of Chinese, Japanese, U.S. and European practices on its stages. New theaters in Taiwan have invented their own form of intercultural performance based on the rich and varied intersection of traditions. These complex dramaturgical practices require a likewise complex set of critical strategies to reveal just how they work in both production and reception. Tuan has woven together an original fabric of interpretation, using postcolonial, global, feminist, and ethnic critiques to illustrate how these intercultural models are constructed.
Although there are some other studies of Taiwanese theaters, until now, none has developed a thorough study of the importance of women directors and their associations with feminist and queer social critiques in the global arena.