English is a foreign language in Taiwan. With the grammar-translation method very much alive, English language is taught and analyzed like a laboratory specimen.
Many teachers, lecturers, and professors of English teach in either Mandarin or Taiwanese. Teaching is also test-driven because students must pass English in qualifying examinations for different purposes.
Given this background, most of my freshman English major students at
Da-Yeh University could hardly speak in English back in September 2000.
Suddenly, they were thrust into an international English Department with lecturers and professors from Taiwan, the U.S.A., Great Britain, South Africa, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Ireland, France, Germany, and the Philippines!
Listening to different accents of English was a big comprehension problem for my freshman English major students. But listening to them was pure agony for me. I prayed constantly for divine wisdom to help me understand what in heaven they were struggling to say. Making them read and write essays, short stories, feature articles, movie reviews, etc. were fierce and furiously-fought battles of Napoleonic proportions.
That was back then… almost four years ago. Today, my former freshman students are seniors already. The second batch of English majors, they will graduate on June 12, 2004.
The first batch, Class 2003, was first in everything – first to organize an English Week celebration, first to publish an English campus paper, and first to present an English graduation drama. Adapted from the film,
Prince of Egypt, Class 2003’s graduation drama was a fabulous and breathtaking spectacle with magnificent costumes and stage props.
The second batch, Class 2004, wanted to present an English graduation drama, too. But the university gave the students a much smaller budget, compared to Class 2003’s budget. Why? First, the English Department is not a Literature Department; and second, there is no budget (but lots of money lying around) for a department-level graduation activity.
Undaunted, Class 2004 went ahead and started preparing its graduation drama. The core group – the movers, high-flyers, thinkers, and dreamers -- believed that the graduation drama was a symbol and rallying point for all seniors. They also felt that they must uphold the “tradition” left behind by the first batch.
The script was chosen and the auditions were held in May-June 2003. Entitled “Dream Weaver,” the script was adapted from the film,
Billy Elliot. The son of a poor miner, Billy wanted to be a ballet dancer. But his father would rather have him learn boxing. Besides, there was no money for ballet because the miners were on strike. Ballet was an impossible dream.
In September 2003, some seniors asked me to help polish the script and to help the cast say their lines. Let’s fast-forward to February 24, 2004. As faculty advisers, Dr. Christopher Chen and I watched a rehearsal of Class 2004’s graduation drama at the school gym. It was 21 days before the performance date.
Did we have huge creative problems! The blocking was horrible, the body language was clumsy, vocal and facial expressions were nonexistent, and the dialogues were unintelligible. Was Class 2004’s graduation drama an impossible dream?
We had other supply and resources problems, too. It was time to close ranks. The faculty members as well as the junior, sophomore, and freshman students of the English Department all helped in every imaginable way.
Dr. Chen took care of the business and organizational problems. I focused on helping the cast become the characters assigned to each of them. We rehearsed almost every day starting on March 2. Jerry Cheng, the student director, took care of the production details and kept everyone together.
On March 17, the play date, Dr. Liling Chuang, Chair of the English Department, came to watch the warm-up rehearsal before the curtain time at 7:00 p.m.. With a happy smile, she whispered to me that everyone seemed to have been transformed.
True enough, at 6:30 in the evening, the gym theater was transformed from an indoor basketball/volleyball court into a glittering hall with blazing lights, complete with gold balloons, ribbons, and flowers. The ushers started welcoming guests with champagne and leading them to their seats. Admission was free. We were elated that many members of Class 2003 came to cheer and support Class 2004.
The lights were turned off and the curtains were drawn. Scene 1. A spotlight revealed a lone ballerina dancing onstage. Then Billy and his grandmother talked about having a dream and following one’s heart.
Cara Wang (Billy’s grandmother) is a quiet, soft-spoken, young lady who hardly ever speaks in class. But there she was, acting like a professional thespian. Were her hands trembling because she was too nervous? Was it part of the acting? But it was so natural that it made you feel like crying and clapping at the same time. There was a magic spell in the air. There was a sense of transport into another time and place.
Scene 2. Billy was at the gym for his boxing lesson. He and the ballet tutor met; she let him join the ballet class. It was a non-dramatic, unemotional scene. But it seemed so real. Queena Chen (ballet tutor) was regal, authoritative, funny, and human. People I didn’t know told me later that they were really amazed by Queena’s performance and her clear delivery.
Scene 4. The striking miners were at the picket line. The police were protecting scabs who were going to the coal mines to work. Then Billy’s brother, the leader of the strike, delivered a fiery activist’s speech. Perched on top of an artificial boulder, Robert Chen (Billy’s brother) finally became the angry, furious, oppressed, and eloquent leader of the miners.
Scene 15. Billy and Debbie were at the gym. Debbie was Billy’s ballet classmate and friend. She said she hated ballet and she really wanted to be a singer. Billy persuaded her to sing for him. As she sang, he improvised dance steps. All of a sudden, Billy’s father was out of the woodwork and was staring down at Billy. Instead of cowering in fear, Billy started dancing a ballet solo with acrobatic moves. The audience broke into a spontaneous and enthusiastic applause.
Everybody I spoke with told me they just loved this scene. They were pleasantly surprised that Claire Jian (Debbie) could sing with such a clear, beautiful voice. And they were astonished that Robert Chang (Billy) could dance with power and precision as a ballet soloist.
Scene 19. A letter from the Royal Ballet School in London had been delivered. It said that Billy had been admitted. Billy’s brother jumped down from the stage. Whooping it up like crazy, he told someone in the audience that his brother got in! The audience lapped it up. Then Billy hugged his grandmother and they cried together. Afterwards, Grandma coaxed Billy to go to his estranged father who was downstage left. After a moment of hesitation, Billy did. They hugged tightly, wordlessly, sobbing with the joy of reconciliation.
Quickly, the spotlight was turned off but the sobs could still be heard. Kevin Lai (Billy’s father) is a consistent, adept, and intelligent actor. He performed superbly in all his scenes, but this was his finest moment. My honors class who did a post-performance critique said it was the most touching scene.
The impossible dream has been attained. Class 2004’s graduation drama, “Dream Weaver,” has lived up to the high expectations established by Class 2003.
Will the university give Class 2005 a budget for another graduation drama? It should; it must. That drama productions should be limited to a Literature Department is a myth. In fact, drama productions big and small are highly effective in developing the communicative competence of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. It develops not only the four language skills, but also cultural literacy.
Sandra Savignon, author of the book Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice (1997), maintains that communicative curriculum design for the 21st century should include theater arts.
More importantly, the students imbibe the values of team work, discipline, resourcefulness, creativity, and interdependence while putting together a drama project. The rehearsals and production work are bonding moments for students and teachers.
What’s my answer to the argument that there is no budget for a department-level graduation activity? Make the graduation drama a university-level graduation activity! Let the College of Engineering and the College of Design take care of the technical and artistic sides of production. Let the College of Business take care of business matters.
Advertise the graduation drama all over the world. Invite the alumni, the parents of the graduating classes, the people in the community where the university is located, and all prospective students. Let it become an annual event to look forward to.
Who knows? English might soon become a second language in Taiwan.
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