Political genre drama is a new style of drama genres popularized in the beginning of the 20th century in Europe. It generally refers to those dramas which serve politics and publicize and arouse the masses. Later, this genre is called political genre drama with following characteristics: characters directly and openly express their political views and positions without any concealment; the drama directly portrays leaders and performs their individual thinking instead of describing their daily life too much; the drama sets up many characters and scenes with frequent time and space conversion which can be freely moved across; there can be no central event, but the drama is structured by political needs or leaders' stream of consciousness instead; and, the drama is integrated by a variety of artistic forms like music, film, dance and poetry. 

Mao Zedong's Reverie at Xibaipo, by its creative design of stage form and through Mao's reverie and timely conversion between characters and actors, overlaps the audience with emotion and thoughts  of historical figures, and triggers the audience not only with common experience with roles in the drama, but also with a certain distance to the roles. It drives the audience to explore magnificent history in that period with contemporary consciousness and meantime to examine today's society in historical perspective and to think why "no Communist Party, no new China" and "only socialism can save China".

The play has collected most powerful lineups for creating and performing in Modern Drama Troupe of the PLA General Political Department. Four winners of China Drama Plum Blossom Award, like Wei Ji'an, Zhai Wanchen, Wang Liyun and Sun Tao, star major roles in this drama. Liu Jin, who played Zhou Enlai in Long March, Yan'an Canticle and other TV and movie works, also plays Zhou in this drama. Chinese familiar and famous comedian Guo Da plays Mao Zedong's father Mao Shunsheng in native Hunan dialect with hot-tempered personality. 

Synopsis
Mao Zedong's Reverie at Xibaipo describes Mao Zedong, a giant with poet's personality, scholar's erudite in the turbulent and historical place of Xibaipo, has made profound thinking of China's fate. During the time of thinking, there comes his family members like Mao Shunsheng and Yang Kaihui, historical figures like Lenin, Stalin, Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zicheng, Chinese generals galloping on battlefield like Lin Biao, Su Yu, Chen Geng, Luo Ronghuan and Liu Yalou, Chinese philosophers like Guo Moruo, Fei Xiaotong and Huang Yanpei etc. Conversations between Mao and these roles one after another have promoted Mao's thinking and composed the prose style of the whole drama.

Xibaipo, located at eastern foot of Taihang Mountain in Pingshan County, Hebei Province is a famous village in history of China's revolution. From May 26, 1948 to March 23, 1949, the older generation of revolutionaries of CPC like Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai and Ren Bishi planned in hands and gain a decisive victory a thousand miles away at Xibaipo. They held National Work Conference on the Land, led the country's land reformation, commanded the Three Major Campaigns in China's Liberation War which determines China's fate, held 2nd Plenary Session of the 7th Central Committee of CPC with historic significance and advocated all the Party members must remain working style of modest, prudent, free from arrogance and impatient, and continue to remain style of arduous struggle.

Modern Drama Troupe of the PLA General Political Department
Modern Drama Troupe of the PLA General Political Department was established in Beijing in May of 1953 with the full name of Art Mission Repertory Theatre of the PLA General Political Department at that time. Its predecessor, established in March 1951, was the Art Mission Drama Team of General Political Department Revolutionary Military Commission of Central People's Government.

Over the past five decades, the Troupe has brought dramas and other artistic works with different styles and wide-ranging impact to inside and outside of the Army, many of which are awarded by big prizes nationally and militarily. The Troupe has collected a group of artists with profound artistic foundation. Till now, 29 artists received Government Special Allowance issued by State Council; 21 directors and credits received Wenhua Prize for Playwriting, Directing, Acting and Choreography Designing issued by Ministry of Culture, and Five-one Project Award issued by Publicity Department of Central Committee of CPC; 3 actors received Plum Blossom Award for drama playing; 12 artists received China Drama Golden Lion Award.