TCU’s English Students Present Glass Menagerie at Hualien County’s Performance Hall

Text/photo: Chia-Yi Lee
Translation: Steve J. Lin

The Department of English Language and Literature worked with Hualien County Government to sponsor a drama performance, which they presented at TCU on December 3 and at Hualien County’s Performance Hall on December 4. The Glass Menagerie was premiered in 1944 and moved to Broadway in 1945, and two Hollywood movie versions were produced. Through this collaboration, TCU wishes to offer its performances to the general public, to enhance aesthetics appreciation, and to let audiences learn several English words or phrases.

慈濟大學英美語文學系戲劇公演已邁入第九屆，以往只在校內演出，今年首次與花蓮縣文化局合作， 12月3日於慈大，12月4日在文化局演藝廳演出名劇《玻璃動物園》，《玻璃動物園》曾多次改編成電影，百老匯舞台劇等。慈大英美語文學系希望藉由到文化局的演出，讓花蓮鄉親及學子有參與的機會，並帶動戲劇美學風氣，演出搭配中英文字幕，希望花蓮喜愛戲劇的民眾，可以到文化局演藝廳來看戲學英文。

In 2015, TCU and Hualien Cultural Affairs Bureau signed a MOU for collaborating educational and research endeavors. Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, De-Jane Chou, indicated that this was the first joint effort after signing MOU. She plans to provide more art performances for local residents, to let TCU students interact with local communities, and enhance international perspectives in Hualien. The Glass Menagerie is the work of Tennessee Williams that portrays the situation of the USA after the Great Depression in the 1930s, and it depicts how people get lost and felt helpless. Amanda is a faded Southern belle, who yearns for the comforts of her youth and also longs for her children to have the same comforts. Her son Tom is frustrated by his job and has a tough life. Amanda’s daughter Laura, had a childhood illness, which left her with a limp, and her mental fragility isolated her from the outside world.

慈濟大學與花蓮縣文化局於2015年簽署「教育與學術研究合作協議書」，人文社會學院周德禎院長表示此次演出是第一次合作，希望能將校園更多的藝文帶進社區，創造無邊際的校園，讓同學走進社區，一起與花蓮民眾打開國際視野。《玻璃動物園》為二十世紀美國重要的劇作家田納西·威廉斯的作品，描述1930年代經濟大恐慌後的美國，人稱〈Lost Generation〉失落的一代。當時的人們感到前途茫茫。劇中母親阿曼達是出身美國南方的大家閨秀，嬌生慣養的她總是自作主張為兒女決定大小事，不僅讓期盼出去闖蕩的兒子湯姆過著極端煎熬的生活，也讓天生內向、有些跛腳的女兒羅拉更加膽怯怕生。

Professor Yi-Rung Lin pointed out that the conflict between fulfilling responsibility and realizing personal dreams is common for everyone, so we often encourage our students to have their dreams, yet balancing this conflict is a big challenge for them. English students started preparing for this event in May. The Glass Menagerie needs only four characters, but English students were not familiar with drama performance, so they had to make good efforts. In addition, this annual event requires more student participation, and thus almost all English students took part in this project. As a result, they gained skills needed in the workplace and experienced team spirit firsthand.

指導老師林宜蓉副教授表示：責任與夢想的衝突，不管在哪一個世代都不斷上演，人都有現實也有夢想，要如何抉擇呢？這群學生不是戲劇科班出生的，但學生們從五月開始準備，主要演員雖然只有四位，但全系投入籌備，為他們未來就業面對團隊合作立下一個很好的基礎。

A student actor Cheng-Han Lin said: “We felt nervous upon knowing that we would perform at Hualien County’s Performance Hall, but we determined to do our best.” Since May, students were busy writing the script, casting, correcting pronunciation, and learning body language. Edith Yi-Jia Huang played the role of Amanda (the mother). Edith is quiet and rarely complains, yet Amanda is pushy and dominant. At the beginning Edith had problems playing this role, speaking solely in English, and expressing needed emotions. On these evenings she played this role very well. For the past several months, she often watched movies and stage shows, and asked her teacher for advice. The thing which helped her most was that she put herself into the shoes of a mother, and realized that every mother’s reminder is from her caring heart.

｢自從決定要到文化局演出，我們超緊張的，希望可以呈現最好的給大家。｣演員之一林承翰說。同學五月開始進行劇本，選角等，尤其是主要演員，還要進行發音矯正和肢體練習。飾演媽媽的黃億嘉，真實的個性悶，不愛抱怨，但劇中的媽媽卻愛碎碎念，指導子女，與真實的他很反差很大。黃億嘉表示，一開始很難進入角色，個性不同外，還要用英文念台詞，並將情緒帶進聲音中，但是現在黃億嘉將媽媽詮釋得非常好，他表示是靠著看電影和舞台劇來學習，還有感謝老師的指導，而最大的收穫就是因為融入了母親的角色後，發現母親的嘮叨其實是出自於關心子女，比較能體諒做母親的心情。

Betty Wen-Ya Xu was Laura, Amada’s daughter. Laura’s childhood illness left her with a limp, Betty often forgot to walk with a limp, so she placed a battery in her shoe at first, which was very painful. Later she replaced it with a bottle cap, and though it was less painful, it still hurt, and thus she would massage her foot to relieve the pain. On these evenings, she wore a shoe with a bottle cap in it.

飾演長短腳女兒的許雯雅，表示最困難的就是如何表現出長短腳，演到一半就會忘了，後來將電池放進鞋子裡，製造出真的長短腳，但實在是太痛了，所以改放瓶蓋，每次彩排完他都要按摩腳底板，但為了給花蓮鄉親一個完美的舞台劇，他表示，演出當天還是會穿瓶蓋鞋上去。

Director Yi-Jie Huang said: “To understand a play writer’s inner world, I used to read his/her work only, but this time was different. I needed to go deeper into Tennessee William’s world, and try to present his inner world and share it with the audience.” It is a four-character play, in order to make it more appealing, Huang added a memory recollection and a magician’s act to the play. Huang recited the first two sentences of this play: “I would like to share what I have, yet I will keep something only to myself.”

《玻璃動物園》導演黃苡緁說：「以前我只有從紙本上探索劇作家的文學世界，而這次的任務是將劇作家文筆下的世界搬到真實的舞台演出。｣雖然主要演員只有四位，但他們還加入了回憶部分的戲碼，甚至還有魔術師的出現，黃苡緁更以﹤玻璃動物園﹥開頭第一句話︰「我口袋裡有一些把戲，但我還偷偷留有一手。」敬請觀眾期待。

Some audience members might not understand English well, and thus English students prepared Chinese subtitles for them. This performance was good for every family, and parents and children learned some English words or phrases while watching the play.

英美語文學系同學表示，也許有人會擔心英文程度不好，怕聽不懂，演出時將搭配中文字幕，所以家長可以帶著小孩一起來觀賞，看戲劇學英文。