Creative Writing Chinese Playwriting

This course combines the concepts and practice of theatre and performance. Firstly, structures and forms advocated by traditional Western theories of drama, such as the "three unities" and the "fourth wall" will be revisited. Then, the course will move on to the theatricality and suppositionality valued by Chinese and modern theatrical theory. This will provide you with a complete overview of basic dramatic concepts from both China and the West, acting as a theoretical resource for students to draw on when interpreting and writing plays. Various forms of playwritings are also discussed, such as one-act plays, plays dealing with social issues, the theatre of the absurd, black box theatre, and avant-garde theatre. This course places special emphasis on the practice of playwriting and performance. You will be required to write scenes and short plays.