Abstract: Two important aspects of western theatre have escaped the attention of most Chinese theatre people and scholars. One of them, originated from Greek tragedies full of familial killings, is a preference for the display and purgation of things unclean. This is largely incompatible with Chinese culture, in which theatre, especially Chinese opera, tends to showcase positive role models in uplifting stories. The other ignored aspect is reflected in a huge portion of western theatre that parallels the Chinese preference for moral cultivation and/or entertainment. In China theatre studies has been dominated by western discourse on serious drama, i. e. the theatre of purgation. It is equally important, however, to study the more popular western theatre genres, e. g. musical, comedy, and mystery, especially in terms of their similarities with Chinese opera, largely an epitome of theatre of cultivation.

Key words: theatre of purgation, theatre of cultivation, theatre, (spoken) drama, Chinese opera, musical