Shadow woman the extraordinary career of Pauline Benton / Grant Hayter-Menzies.

Author/creator Hayter-Menzies, Grant, 1964-
Format Electronic
Publication InfoMontréal & Kingston : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2013]
Descriptionxx, 240 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm
Supplemental ContentFull text available from Ebook Central - Academic Complete
Subjects

Portion of title Extraordinary career of Pauline Benton
Contents 1 Cultural Geographies 3 -- 2 Shadow People 15 -- 3 Willow-Patterned Cathay 23 -- 4 The Red Gate Shadow Players 36 -- 5 Oriental Curiosities 58 -- 6 Shadows Pass 69 -- 7 World War 87 -- 8 Survival 103 -- 9 Cultural Revolution 117 -- 10 Shadow Woman 131 -- 11 Monkey King 149.
Abstract Kansas-born Pauline Benton (1898-1974) was encouraged by her father, one of America's earliest feminist male educators, to reach for the stars. Instead, she reached for shadows. In 1920s Beijing, she discovered shadow theatre (piyingxi), a performance art where translucent painted puppets are manipulated by highly trained masters to cast coloured shadows against an illuminated screen. Finding that this thousand-year-old forerunner of motion pictures was declining in China, Benton believed she could save the tradition by taking it to America. Mastering the male-dominated art form in China, Benton enchanted audiences eager for the exotic in Depression-era America. Her touring company, Red Gate Shadow Theatre, was lauded by theatre and art critics and even performed at Franklin Roosevelt's White House. Grant Hayter-Menzies traces Benton's performance history and her efforts to preserve shadow theatre as a global cultural treasure by drawing on her unpublished writings, the recollections of her colleagues, the testimonies of shadow masters who survived China's Cultural Revolution, as well as young innovators who have carried on Benton's pioneering work.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Access restrictionAvailable only to authorized users.
Other formsIssued also in electronic format.
Technical detailsMode of access: World Wide Web
Genre/formElectronic books.
LCCN 2017381239
ISBN9780773542013 (bound)
ISBN9780773589100 (epub)

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Electronic Resources Access Content Online ✔ Available