Acting the Right Part《Jeremy Brown's question》

In his review Jeremy Brown raises a bunch of questions: "where and by whom were they (the model operas) performed and how often? Who watched them – could just anybody get a ticket?" I think I can answer these questions according to my very sketchy knowledge of the model theatre and its role in people's everyday life during the GPCR. My answer would be following the order of the questions "everywhere" "everyone" "frequently" and "everyone and most of the time free of charge". It is not so much that Chen Xiaomei failed to acknowledge the importance of these questions as that she failed to provide the basic background info for her target readers.

At the end of his review Brown also doubts that Chen's re-evaluation of the model theatre differs from that of conventional elite reading of the GPCR. However I see at least one difference. For Chen the model theatre of course as many scholars have already pointed out has the function of political and ideological indoctrination but on the other hand it creates colorful spectacles in contrast to the bleak and highly politicized everyday life. In terms of gender the model theatre offers images of feminine beauty and strength for instance as in the characters of Xi'er Tiemei and Qinghua which was not that likely available in the daily life during the GPCR.