'This book is the account of a personal journey through Asia, a written documentary of a quest to find political theatre that really works and that possesses a vitality and passion that the contemporary Western theatre seems to have lost' - from the book. Most Westerners know little about Asian theatre beyond some acquaintance with No[straight line over o] and Kabuki, Indonesian shadow puppet plays, or the flamboyant productions of the Beijing Opera. Yet there is more to Asian theatre than epic traditions, colorful shapes, and stylized motions.For more than twenty-five years there has existed throughout Asia an openly political theatre movement that both embraces and rejects traditional Asian theatre forms. Eug ne van Erven has traveled throughout Asia, visiting various grass-roots theatre groups, observing their methods and performances, and establishing close ties with many of their members. In this groundbreaking book, he reports on the liberation theatre movements in the Philippines, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Thailand. He describes a diverse collection of creative artists whose politics range from liberal to revolutionary but who all share a common goal of using grass-roots theatre as an agent of liberation. This is a book about a committed theatre that draws its dramas from the plight of the people and takes its message to the streets.