Alternative Chinese Opera in the Age of Globalization

'Alternative Chinese Opera is a marvellous piece of theater scholarship and critical commentary on the contemporary performances of major genres of traditional Chinese opera around the Pacific Rim. The study offers a grand vista that is transnational in scope and suggestive in comparative analysis even as it captures the cultural and historical specificities of each locale. Whether the subject is Cantonese opera in post-colonial "born-again" Chinese Hong Kong, self-consciousness innovative Jungju opera in multicultural Taiwan, or reinvented classical Kunqu opera presented at campus theatres in California, insights and nuances abound in Lei's discussion of the staged performance and the cultural politics on and behind the scene. Along China's periphery are such uneven cultural terrains, where Lei encourages us to be steadfast in celebrating these resilient and dynamic performance traditions and to remain hopeful that they will stay vital' - Wing Chung Ng, Associate Professor of History, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA