Theatre History on the Web: Asia

Non-Western Theatre Resources

Myanmar (Burma)

USF ASIAN THEATRE SITE, maintained by the University of San Francisco. A compendium of excellent links to China, Japan, Southeast Asian and Asian American sites.
Asian American Theatre Review. Little history here, but an excellent resource for those interested in contemporary Asian-American theatre activity. Back on-line after a lengthy hiatus.
Asian Theatre Journal, University of Hawai'i Press.
Theatrehistory.com. Pretty lightweight; of about the same value as Cliff Notes.
Asian Theatre Bibliography. Maintained by the Kalamazoo College Library. Short, but pithy. Useful links are near the end of the entry.
'Asian Performance Web Links. The site is maintained by the University of Sydney (Australia) Library. Good resource. Additionally, visit the library's main performance site.
The East Asian Collections at the University of Pennsylvania Library, a rich resource for the historian interested in this part of the world.
The National Library of AustraliaPuppetry in Asia, A Selected Bibliography.
Links to Indian art and artifacts.

Rehabilitation of Cambodian Performing Arts. An article published by UNESCO 22 December, 2002.

Conduct a Cambodian Ensemble, a PBS "P.O.V." presentation. Both court and folk music examples are played. Individual instruments may be selected for close listening. A very interesting site.
Photos from the Royal Cambodian Ballet. "The ancient art of Cambodian ballet - the purist form of South East Asian dance - was almost wiped out by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. Most of the practitioners were murdered in the killing Fields. Now, with a concerted effort by the few surviving dancers and teachers in conjunction with scholars and the Cambodian Ministry of Culture, this exquisite art form is being revived and taught again to young students at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Phnom Penh." Photos by Dan White, photojournalist.
Photos from the Khmer Theatre. "After being almost destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and successive wars, Cambodian drama is once again performed at the newly re-opened Bassac Theatre on the banks of the Tonle Sap River." Photos by Dan White.

USF ASIAN THEATRE SITE - China University of San Francisco: Links to sites related to Chinese Theatre.
Beijing Opera (Peking Opera), including music clips and photos. A link from the China the Beautiful site. Very rich resources from China.
The Development of Beijing Opera During the Cultural Revolution a web site based on the thesis of the same name by Wendy A. Levine © 1995. An excellent scholarly site, with thesis excerpts and many excellent photographs in the gallery. Site contains an extensive bibliography.

Digital South Asia Library, American Institute of Indian Studies. From the Excellent slides of Indian dress, architecture, etc.
Ramkatha - Ankan Manchan Aur Vaachan, the Ramayana or Ramkatha tradition in India, a mixture of nearly all entertainment genre.
Kamat's Potpourri, a "Hodge-podge of History, Mystery, and Diversity of India (and lots of pictures)." Just what it says, with links to an overview of Indian Theatre genre. A populist starting point for an exploration of the various Indian theatre forms

Japanese Arts Council, with links to the several National Theatres of Japan and short histories of the various performance arts of Japan.
JIN Virtual Museum of Traditional Japanese Arts. A wonderful site, made especially delightful by the hypertext interface.
Japanese Noh Theatre. Good references and links. "Paul Binnie, an artist from Scotland and the author of this article, lived in Tokyo for more than 5 years. Kabuki and the Japanese Noh Theater became his great passion."
Noh Theatre, an unattributed article, with numerous links.
Noh Dancing; several links to this topic.
Schauwecker's Guide to Japan, Japanese Theatre Links for Kabuki, Noh and Bunraku. Commercial, but a good resource none-the-less.
Traditional Theatre in Japan. Part of a project begun at Cleveland State University in 1995. There are also a rich collection of links attached to this entry.
Japanese Traditional Theatre Timeline. Commercial site; good information and illustrations.
From Questia, "the world's largest online library" -- research topic: Kabuki Theatre. Good bibliography of books and articles related to the Kabuki theatre.

Traditional Turkish Shadow Theatre, Karagoz Hacivat. Complete history of Karagoz, its traditions, characters and dramas.
Turkish Culture Foundation web site. With links to all things Turkish, including theatre, music and the visual arts.
Tiyatro Keyfi The site includes photographs of Turkish theatre artists from the past 65 years as well as reviews of contemporary productions and news theatrical in Turkey, as well as links to Turkish theatre sites.

Reinvention in Theatre, an essay on theatre groups in Mindanao by Geejay Arriola, " a theatre artist, songwriter, and webdesigner." Published in Our Own Voice Literaty Ezine: Filipinos in the Diaspora, 2002. Click anywhere on the homepage to enter this interesting site.

Taiwan Theatre Museum. Very superficial overview.
Chinese Association of Museums, a directory; and an excellent overview of the growth of museums in Tiawan.