This is the first book on Korean opera in a language other than Korean. Its subject is ch'angguk, a form of musical theater that has developed over the last hundred years from the older narrative singing tradition of p'ansori. Andrew Killick examines the history and current practice of ch'angguk as an ongoing attempt to invent a traditional Korean opera form to compare with those of neighboring China and Japan. In this, the work addresses a growing interest within the fields of ethnomusicology and Asian studies in the adaptation of traditional arts to conditions in the modern world....