ABSTRACT
The performance review involved the leading troupes of the influential theatrical genres. In the following ten years, Tian Han revised the play several times, and it became one of the selected scripts for the First National Performance Review. The scripts at the First National Performance Review offered a number of model versions. As a carnival in China's theatrical circles, the First National Performance Review offered Peking audiences the opportunity to appreciate the top performance of theatrical art. Interestingly, most of those scripts were popular in the theatres of different cities, frequently put on by the eminent dramatists. Although newly composed scripts or adapted scripts accounted for a small proportion, the traditional scripts that were put on by famous actors/actresses promoted the improvement of theatrical art. The romance between Xu Xian and the snake spirit was a popular mythological tale in China.
