Analysis of the Adaptation Potential of Storyworlds in Chinese Mythological Children’s Theatre from a Transmedia Perspective

Abstract

Transmedia storytelling is not the mechanical duplication of a single story across media; rather, it narrates different facets of a shared storyworld and expands the world’s boundaries through intertextual relations. Chinese traditional mythology, with its deep cultural genealogy, rich fantastic imagination, and broad audience base, is an important resource for transmedia adaptations in children’s theatre. Grounded in theories of intertextuality and transmedia storytelling, this paper asks whether a storyworld possesses adaptation potential and proposes four criteria: drillability, extendability, the potential of core elements for theatrical realization, and the depth of cultural grounding. It argues that children’s-theatre adaptations should preserve the core rules and cultural connotations of the source storyworld while using narrative extension, low-threshold audience participation, theatre-specific affordances, and effective contemporary translation of values to become a productive piece of the original storyworld.