Gao Xingjian, recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Literature, lists European avant-garde drama among his influences, which can be felt in the plays collected in this volume. THE OTHER SHORE (1986), BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH (1991), DIALOGUE AND REBUTTAL (1992), NOCTURNAL WANDERER (1993), and WEEKEND QUARTET (1995), presented here in English translations, poetically combine traditional Zen principles with a modern sensibility. Gao's themes include loneliness, exile, sexuality and the poles of life and death. The plays here display Gao's theoretical conception of the tripartite actor, in which the performer is able to meaningfully observe himself in the course of the play. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.