Theatre occupied a particularly important place in the life of the elite, for whom owning a theatre troupe was highly fashionable and for whom theatre performances were an integral part of formal gatherings, various rituals and ceremonies. Based on an exploration of original historical records, including comparisons with other forms of ancient theatre, Shen provides an overview of elite theatre in Ming China and examines the details of theatrical performance.

Grant Guangren Shen is a theatre director and Asian theatre specialist. He directed the English versions of the zaju opera of China (1995), kabuki of Japan (1998), and Sanskrit of India (2002), all in their classical study. He teaches a variety of theatre courses, both Asian and Western, theoretical and practical. He has published articles on Asian theatre in internationally refereed journals.

1. Introduction 2. Previous Scholarship 3. Troupe Owners 4. Actor Background 5. Owner-Performer Relation 6. Actor Training 7. Singing and Dancing 8. Role Playing 9. Directing 10. Performance Space 11. Playwriting Performance Theory