This thesis is an examination of three plays representing actor’s life from the Republican to contemporary eras in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. As a result of both public recognition and rigorous training, the majority of famous actors from that period confuse their identities with that of the characters’ at a certain point of their life, even to such extent that actors portraying death on stage could result in death in real life. This genre of plays questions the fundamental values in art and life. These include what it is to be an actor, what it is to be alive and what it is to be remembered as a character rather than as an actor. The literary devices of ‘play within a play’, ‘death as a lure’ and ‘actor playing actor’ are used to explore the innate paradox of actors’ mista...[ Read more ]

This thesis is an examination of three plays representing actor’s life from the Republican to contemporary eras in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. As a result of both public recognition and rigorous training, the majority of famous actors from that period confuse their identities with that of the characters’ at a certain point of their life, even to such extent that actors portraying death on stage could result in death in real life. This genre of plays questions the fundamental values in art and life. These include what it is to be an actor, what it is to be alive and what it is to be remembered as a character rather than as an actor. The literary devices of ‘play within a play’, ‘death as a lure’ and ‘actor playing actor’ are used to explore the innate paradox of actors’ mistaking life for theater. Taiwan and Hong Kong contemporary productions innovatively combine traditional Chinese opera performance with a modern narrative, which, in my view, suggests an “epistemic shift” in theater performance. The nature of the acting occupation makes actors the living history of social changes in the twentieth century, thus examining the plays based on actors’ lives offers a unique perspective on major historical events such as the May Fourth Movement and Cultural Revolution. Through close analyses, this thesis not only sheds light on the effects of social changes on Chinese actors and their profession, but also contributes to our new understanding of dramatic culture concerning the interplay between performance and the actor’s real-life experience.