English Onstage:Foreign Language Theater At Fu Jen Catholic University 1966-2006

PREFACE

　　Since the early 1980s when I began teaching in the English department of Fu Jen Catholic University, I have been regularly attending the plays of the Department of English Language and Literature: the big-scale musicals, the sultry dramas, and the rousing comedies.  At each performance, I become extremely proud of what our English department students have accomplished in terms of spoken English and manifestation of a gamut of emotions.  At the same time, I am amazed at the devotion of the director who must have spent hours and hours in preparing the students.  When I speak to our English department alumni and ask them what fond memories do they have of our English department, invariably the answer is the play or plays in which they participated.  They do not always remember the courses they had or their teachers, but they do have vivid memories of their role in the play, either onstage or backstage, which suggests that drama is an invaluable part of our English department.

　　Most of the English department plays I’ve seen have been directed by either the indomitable and low-key Donna Schaefer whose spirit still hovers around our theaters, or my diligent and ever-upbeat former student Cecilia Liu, or the current force majeure of our Fu Jen College of Foreign Languages and Literature stage, the irrepressible Llyn Scott.  I have a fairly clear idea of their magnificent contribution to dramatic performances in our English department.  With the publication of this book, however, I now know about those who served our English department so well in the 1960s and 70s, such as Sister Laetifera, later called Sister Cora, whose name is still whispered with admiration, and Richard Cameron who is so well remembered by those who were with him then.

　　During these forty years of drama in the Fu Jen English department, the department chairmen and chairwomen have been continually doing what they could so that “the show must go on.”  Mention should be made here of Father Peter Venne SVD our first chairman (1963-1974), who had the wisdom to know that drama must be a part of an English department in the Chinese-speaking world, something he must have learned when he was in the English department of the Fu Jen University that was once in Beijing.  With Father Pierre Demers, SJ as chairman (1974-1982), and his great love of theater, drama was given a central position in the English department.  With these two chairmen, the tradition of drama in our English department was given a secure foundation that lasts until today.

　　As director, Llyn Scott spares no pain to make sure that each performance is the best possible.  With the publication of this volume, she deserves a standing ovation for the years of tireless effort she has given to gather all the fascinating material found here tracing the history of theater in the Fu Jen English department.  She is a trouper in the finest meaning of the word who creates a moment of magic on the stage and years of enlightenment with the presentation of this book.

　　By Nicholas A. Koss, OSB, PhD, Dean of the College of Foreign Languages and Literature (2001-2007)

　　本書是輔仁大學外文系四十年來的回顧與紀錄。包括歷屆英語戲劇公演的劇目及演職員名單，輔大戲劇系歷屆師生的感謝辭、回憶錄、採訪、演講稿、專文以及照片等豐富資料。

作者簡介

Llyn Margaret Scott（施琳達）

　　Llyn Margaret Scott（施琳達）是美國路易斯安那大學戲劇博士，目前擔任輔仁大學副教授及理圖劇場業務協調人。