Staging the Past: How Performers Enact Authenticity in a Heritage Theme Park

Authenticity in tourism has evolved from a quest for objective truth to a performative, experience-driven process shaped by emotion, interaction, and context. While existing research has extensively explored tourists’ perceptions of authenticity, the role of performers—those who embody and animate historical narratives—remains underexamined. This study addresses that gap by investigating how performers create and negotiate authenticity within a fictionalised historical setting: Xi’an’s Tang Cultural Theme Park, a staged simulation of Tang Dynasty China. Drawing on ethnographic methods, including in-depth interviews and participant observation, the study reveals that authenticity is not a fixed attribute but a dynamic, co-produced experience. Performers enact authenticity through music, storytelling, and artistic performance, navigating tensions between scripted roles and spontaneous expression, private emotion and public display. Their practices reflect a continuous process of meaning-making, personal transformation, and identity construction. By centring the performers’ perspective, this research contributes to tourism, heritage, and performance studies by advancing a more embodied and relational understanding of authenticity in heritage-themed attractions. It offers a critical lens on how performative labour shapes affective and cultural experiences in contemporary tourism.