Presentation: Reflecting the Present through the Republican Past — Affective Historical Dramaturgy in The Nine’s Republican Cycle

In July 2026, Ting Zhang presented her paper, “Reflecting the Present through the Republican Past: Affective Historical Dramaturgy in The Nine’s Republican Cycle”, at the Australian Society for Asian Humanities (ASAH) Inaugural Conference at the University of Sydney, followed by the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress at the University of Melbourne, where she presented as part of the Translation, Adaptation and Dramaturgy Working Group.

Focusing on the contemporary Chinese theatre collective The Nine (话剧九人), the paper introduced the concept of “affective historical dramaturgy” to examine how the company reactivates Republican-era history as a reflective framework for engaging indirectly with contemporary social, ethical, and intellectual concerns.