Historical Review Of The Amateur Drama Movement

The amateur drama movement is an important part of the process of modernization of Chinese drama. China's early drama turn to mature period with the development of this drama campaign. Amateur drama was so popular in the 20's that its influence throughout the whole country, but it declined gradually because of its inherent deficiency. This text try to give an overall academic view to the rise and fall of the amateur drama movement and make a historical review to the theory and practice flaws which led to its decline.The full text is divided into four chapters:Chapter One elaborates the process of the amateur drama movement specifically. Both the fierce debate over the old and the new drama during the May 4th period and the defeat of civilization drama are the historical backgrounds of the rise of movement. To "Mrs. Warren's career" failed to perform as a beginning, the upsurge of the amateur drama movement started throughout the country. The Populace Theatres,The Shanghai Cooperative Theater Association and the Beijing People's Arts Drama School respectively became important representative of the amateur drama movement in theory, practice and drama education. The criticism to the old opera and the civilization drama had been further developed in the amateur drama movement.Chapter Two discusses in depth the theory source and achievements of the amateur drama movement. It inherited the fine tradition of learning from the West in the May 4th movement, drawing on a wide range of foreign drama theory. Targeted introduction and reference promoted the establishment and development of the amateur drama theory. Chen Dabei's long article "beauty of the drama" become a guiding book as an important theoretical results of the campaign. The campaign was deeply influenced by the Western Little Theater Movement Theory, and have made great achievements on the theater concept,popularization of drama and so on.Chapter There shows a comprehensive picture of the practical achievements of the amateur drama movement. The campaign made the student drama develop from spontaneous to conscious, into a purposeful, theoretical and organized drama campaign. The Shanghai Cooperative Theater Association, which was under the leadership of Hong Shen,was the important unit in practical aspects. It made the advocacy theory into practice genuinely. The establishment of the script system and the enhancement of the dramatic literariness are important aspects of the campaign. The advocates Chen Dabei,Wang Zhongxian and Pu Boying set an good example, they created a large number of scripts which are the first sign of success in script creation. People's Arts Drama School played an important turning role in the development of campaign, which also opened up the Chinese drama education first.Chapter Four investigates in-depth the existence of important issues in the development of the amateur drama movement. First of all I confirm the meaning of the campaign in the history of drama. Then I analysis the gap between practice and theory in the creation of script performance system,stage arts and so on. The contradictionbetween amateur and professional is an important issue not only plagued the development of early modern drama, but also the significant reason lead to the decline of the amateur drama movement.The discussion of this issue resulted in the development trend of professionalization of drama.Conclusion: The amateur drama movement rose in particular historical background. It tried hard to create a new drama and to remove the residue shortcomings in civilization drama. It has made tremendous achievements in the theoretical study and practical exploration. Due to historical inertia and the deficiencies in itself, there was large gap between theory and practice, which leaving a lot of regrets. After all, it realized the initial ideal of China's modern theater movement and laid a foundation for the professional and standardization development of drama.