The Methuen Drama Anthology of Modern Asian Plays

A companion volume to Modern Asian Theatre and Performance 1900-2000, this anthology contains nine emblematic scripts from twentieth and twenty-first century Asian theatre. Opening with a history of modern Asian drama and a summary of the plays and their contexts, it features nine works written between 1912 and 2009 in Japan, China, Korea, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Showcasing fresh contemporary writing alongside plays central to the established canon, the collection surveys each playwright’s work, and includes:
Father Returns by Kikuchi Kan
Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner and the Farewell Speech by Okada Toshiki
Sunrise by Cao Yu
I Love XXX by Meng Jinghui, Huang Jingang, Wang Xiaoli, Shi Hang
Bicycle by O Tae-sok
The Post Office by Rabindranath Tagore
Hayavadana by Girish Karnad
The Struggle of the Naga Tribe by W. S. Rendra
Truong Ba’s Soul in the Butcher’s Skin by Luu Quang Vu


The chronological and geographical breadth of the anthology provides a unique insight into modern Asian theatre and is essential to any understanding of its relation to Western drama and indigenous performance.

Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. is Professor of Theatre Arts at Loyola Marymount University, USA.

Siyuan Liu is Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.