Presentation :

Theater's performances reflect the current cultural diversity of Spanish society, including the Chinese presence. The stage plays show and contribute to build a stereotyped social imaginary about China and the Chinese, as well as to offer alternatives to the dominant representation. The Chinese, in the Spanish theater, brings to light that certain globalization and imaginaries existed since the eighteenth century when some Chinese works translated and staged in other countries, were adapted and/or recreated for own consumption in Spain. This practice, accompanied by “whitewashing”, is already at work, but since the beginning of the 21the century, the Spanish theater stage in relationship with Chinese/China is more complex. In this paper, besides “whitewashing”, we will discuss several works where at least some of the actors are Chinese, as well as dramaturgies with only Chinese actors, exposing the imaginary and the representations that project their presence. Now, the Chinese are not only in the role of “Chinese”, and so beyond Chinese historical and political works, o Chinese in the role of “migrants”, they are also in leading roles without an ethnic mark. The language also (to speak or not in Chinese) sometimes is a key to the plot.