Mask Field Research on a Folk Performance

Since the time of the Qing Dynasty villagers of Xiaotun have performed a folk opera in which all the actors wear masks Known as the Guansuo Opera its performances were suspended during the Cultural Revolution and its script was burned In 1980 through the approval of the local government it started to perform again Mask records the various antagonisms and attitudes amongst villagers performers village and county officials local cultural researchers and filmmakers More significantly it reveals the cultural confrontation between the observed in the village and the filmmaking crew