NTU Press published Taiwanese Improvisational Theater: Performing "Living Plays" in Gezaixi (2 vols.) in December. The highly-anticipated work is the culmination of nearly two decades of field surveys and research on Taiwanese gezaixi folk opera undertaken by Professor Ho-yi Lin of the Department of Drama and Theater.

Approaching her subject as improvisational theater, Professor Lin provides a probing and comprehensive exploration of the art of gezaixi and applies theoretical analyses in the attempt to construct a systematized dramaturgical theory for the genre. The book highlights the previously unacknowledged accomplishments and singular creative approach of this traditional art form and provides fresh information about its creative process and performance style.

Gezaixi experienced a brief period of self-transformation during the 1920s. Aiming to win over audiences with fresh ideas, the gezaixi community innovated a scriptless improvisational performance style it called "performing living plays" and absorbed on a large scale the operas and performance styles of other major opera genres, including Beijing opera, Beiguan opera, and Gaojia opera.
Moreover, the community continuously revamped its repertoires and performance content in response to the prevailing customs of the times. As a result of such innovations, the folk opera enjoyed two golden ages, one during the Japanese colonial period of the 1920s and 1930s and another during the post-war period of the 1950s and 1960s.

In Volume 1, Professor Lin examines gezaixi in terms of its history and development, research and practice, and performance troupe conditions and operational mechanisms as a framework for discussing the creative theater people, actors, and musicians. By stressing the interactions and cooperation among the various performers, Lin presents an analysis of the creative process and manifestations of improvised gezaixi.

In Volume 2, the author compiles precious resource materials germane to the research of gezaixi. These materials include: a list of known operas performed in Taiwan; field notes of troupes performing improvised living plays; examples of various kinds of stage props; discussions of famous operas by renowned performers; performers' notebooks; and biographical information about notable theater people, actors, and musicians.