Meng Jinghui Pioneer Drama Aesthetic Style Research

This master thesis studies the aesthetics of Meng Jinghui's Avant Garde theatre, evaluating its innovation in theatrical form and style. The thesis reviews the successive phases of Meng Jinghui's Avant Garde theatre in connection with its evolving aesthetical styles, while examining certain constant themes that have been consistently present in Meng Jinghui's works. It then compares Meng Jinghui's works with other exploratory (experimental) theatrical works and evaluates Meng Jinghui's contribution to China's experimental theatre in arts as well as commercial prospect.Chapter 1 analyzes the representative works in the successive phases of Meng Jinghui's Avant Garde theatre and examines the evolution of his aesthetical styles. Waiting for Godot applied artistic absurdism and rejected the traditional realist theatrical approach. Si Fan and I Love Someone experimented with non-linear narratives and imaginary expressions. The Accidental Death of An Anarchist marked the beginning of the "People's Line" period and reflected Meng Jinghui's effort to localize Avant Garde. Rhinoceros in Love was an experiment to introduce and incorporate traditional Chinese theatrical arts as well as modern popular cultures into contemporary theatre. In the Flowers in the Mirror, the Moon in the Water, Meng Jinghui made use of multi-media techniques as he attempted to free the theatrical performance from its traditional dependence on scripts. Finally, Two Dogs... took further steps in the experiment with audience participation.Chapter 2 examines certain constant aesthetic themes that have been consistently present in Meng Jinghui's Avant Garde theatre. These include the exploration and expansion of the theatrical space, the fictionalization of stage background, the non-realistic theatrical style, as well as cynical and sarcastic styles of performance.Chapter 3 discusses the theoretical and historical origin of Meng Jinghui's Avant Garde theatre. Meng Jinghui's works have been heavily influenced by the theories and practices of Peter Brook, Vsevolod E. Meierkholid, David Lynch, and Peter Greenaway.The last chapter evaluates the successes and limitations of exploratory (experimental) theatre in arts and in commercial promotion. It discusses Meng Jinghui's contribution in establishing the identity of China's experimental theatre and in the commercial promotion of the Chinese theatre.