In this book about the exploration and research of bodies and transformance, author Peilin Liang presents unconventional research that breaks away from (or rather unifies) the boundaries and diversity of bodies, and hints at future possibilities of research methods that can be used. As a researcher of Taiwanese contemporary theatre, Liang's position is interesting. Born in Taiwan, Liang then immigrated to New Zealand, and later received her PhD from the University of Hawaii. She now teaches at the National University of Singapore, specializing in theatre and performance studies. She is an insider as well as an outsider and has little connection to the Taiwanese academic genealogy. She is more like a cultural intermediary and knowledge producer. Between her and her research subjects she maintains a relationship focused on observation, recording, participation, interviewing, interpretation and narrative construction.

As the book reveals, Liang conducted in-depth field research on and participated in a number of productions and the physical training processes of five Taiwanese theatre companies, including the Golden Bough Theater in Tamsui; the Shigang Mama Theater in Taichung; the Tainanjen Theater in Tainan; the Langasan Theater in the Amis district of Tafalong, Hualien; and the Malataw Theater in Taitung. She deliberately selected companies and a number of works from 2000 to 2008 that were non-mainstream and non-commercial and did not come from the Taipei Metropolitan Area, highlighting the more emergent and experimental ethos in Taiwanese theatre.

Based on her research of Taiwanese contemporary theatre in the (post-)colonial and post-martial-law period of Taiwan, she proposes five reconceptualizations of the body, which are the energized, rhythmic, ritualized, joyous and (re)productive bodies. She presents these ‘bodies’ as forms of rebellion reflected in the New Drama of the period of Japanese occupation (1895–1945) and the drama of the period of Nationalist government (1925–48), positing this bodily rebellion as a response from Taiwanese contemporary theatre to the post-Cold War, post-colonial, cross-cultural and globalized era. She proposes that through these reconceptualizations of the body, the damaged genealogy of Taiwanese performance history, incorporating a diversity of performances that include indigenous works, can be reconstructed.

Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, research on body training and performance systems of contemporary theatre has been flourishing in Taiwan. Some studies are more akin to philosophical and cultural studies, and based on the critique of state apparatus and ideology, combining the philosophical study of ontology and the intertextual investigation of the state system, the body and the flesh. Other studies focus on the tools and techniques of performance systems and training methods, introducing and expanding upon a stunningly wide range of bodies and performances. Liang's research textualizes, temporalizes and spatializes bodies and puts them into the context of imperialism (i.e. the New Drama during Japanese colonial rule and the drama of the period of Nationalist government stated above). She focuses on observing the physical transfiguration, linguistic rearticulation and reconfiguration of interbody relations in the drama-creation process. In addition, she does not use the theatre classification system normally used in Taiwanese contemporary theatre, such as large theatres versus small theatres, elite theatres versus popular theatres, Taipei theatres versus non-Taipei theatres, commercial theatres, community theatres and tribal theatres. Instead her perspectives are based on island bodies and transformance, reflecting also on her ‘island body’ that has moved from Taiwan to New Zealand, Hawaii to Singapore – spaces which have a history of colonialism to varying degrees. She finds that the subjectivity and objectivity of island bodies bring about a reconnection of otherwise scattered bodies (p. 10).

In terms of methodology, her work is not biased towards idealism or metaphysics and is not just a shallow record of performance or rehearsals. On the contrary, it is clear that she makes good use of the ‘Empire Writes Back’ strategies regarding post-colonial theatre, for example, reciting the classics, enacting rituals and carnivals, reconfiguring post-colonial histories, resisting hegemonic modes through alternative language usage, politicizing the body, and theatrical syncretism. Through these strategies, she refines and proposes the five types of bodies of Taiwanese contemporary theatre in the post-martial-law period as a lens for looking towards the future.