實驗與前衛劇場是文革後中國當代戲劇在美學層面最重要的一環，而林兆華是唯一貫穿這三十年的導演，其作品屢屢引發思想和美學上的爭議。本文將分析林兆華在導表演上的概念、手法與發展歷程，從微觀角度認識中國當代劇場藝術家對戲劇創作的思考，並探討其中所涉及之西方的現代戲劇危機以及後戲劇劇場等重要現象。 林兆華的作品可分三個階段，一是 1982–1989；二是整個 90年代；三是 1995至今，各階段顯示他邁向不同的挑戰。從作品來看，其探索首先起於「怎麼說」的刺激，即他在 80年代的實驗主要源自反抗寫實主義戲劇，加上新戲劇文學出現，林兆華面臨的問題是怎麼表現戲劇。至 90年代，在原有戲劇文學話語外，還出現有「說什麼」的企圖，於是新內容再度出現，為因應新內容，他又面臨該「怎麼說」的探索，這一次的探索最終引導他思考，「說」（戲劇）的活動本身是什麼。

In terms of theatre aesthetics, experimental and avant-garde theatres are without doubt the most important dimension in the development of Chinese contemporary theatre after the Cultural Revolution. Lin Zhaohua is the only director who has kept active in experimental and avantgarde theatre creation through the 1980s, 1990s and the first ten years of the 21st century. His productions not only constantly gave rise to disputes about thoughts and theatre, but touched upon the important issues in Chinese modern and contemporary theatre, particularly rethinking of acting and directing methods, as well as modern application of xiqu（traditional Chinese theatre） aesthetics. This essay will explore and analyze Lin’s concepts and methods of acting and directing, and will probe the phenomena of Western modern and contemporary theatre that are related with Lin’s creation, such as the crisis of modern drama and postdramatic theatre. Lin’s theatre career could be divided into three phases. The first phase starts from 1982 to 1989; the second covers the whole 90s; and the third could be counted from 1995 to the present. The works in each phase show that Lin was toward a higher challenge. His theatre exploration in the 80s started with ‘how to present drama/theatre’ due to the reasons of the occurrence of new drama literature（with new contents and forms） and of his desire for seeking new expressions other than realistic style. As entering the 90s, in addition to script content, Lin was filled with the ambition to add his own content while directing. Consequently his theatre emerged new contents（including playwright’s and director’s）. To response the new contents, he again faced the issue of ‘how to present drama/theatre’. The new exploration finally led him and his creation to the rumination on the question of "what is theatre".