Publisher's Synopsis
This text brings together a powerful universal myth - that of the Birdwoman, which has been the inspiration of several Asian theatres and the subject of many Asian plays - and explores the connection between string-puppet and human-actor movements within the Asian theatrical tradition. It is a book about theatre as ritual and as power struggle, and presents a study of Lady Joruri, herself a semi-mythical figure, who gave her name to the world's most sophisticated puppet theatre.
