ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.09.014
The Avant-Garde and the Traditional in Wotou Huiguan
Xin Wang
Department of Theatre Management, The Central Academy of Drama, Beijing 100710, China.
*Corresponding author: Xin Wang
Published: September 20, 2026
Abstract
Wotou Huiguan is seen as a typical
example of experimental theatre in China since the 20th century, and it
combines new-style exploration with traditional inheritance; taking this play
as the research object, this paper studies how the work creates a distancing
effect under the guidance of Brecht’s “epic theatre” theory, while the study is
carried out from two sides, namely directorial treatment and dramatic content,
and it also shows how the play follows the three basic rules of classical
realism; the play does not give more attention to one side and ignore the
other, instead, it carefully brings together new stage methods and realistic
ideas of creation, so the reason why it succeeds lies mainly in the balance
between content and form; this combined way effectively avoids the problem of
experimental theatre losing its literary base and pushing audiences away, and
because some current experimental works only chase new forms and give up
content expression, the creative practice of this play still has important
reference value and provides useful lessons for today’s theatre creation.
Keyword
Wotou Huiguan; realistic theatre; experimental theatre
References
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Copyright
© 2026 by the author(s).
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How to cite this paper
The Avant-Garde and the Traditional in Wotou Huiguan
How to cite this paper: Xin Wang. (2026) The Avant-Garde and the Traditional in Wotou Huiguan. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 10(9), 1129-1132.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.09.014