/
Playwright / Director
編 劇 導 演
Joanna Chan
陳 尹 瑩 04
1993年在紐約市府獲表揚，與貝律銘、馬友友等共列為美國三十五位華裔文化先 驅之一；並得市府宣告，93年7月9日為紐約市陳尹瑩日。在北美、中國內地、台 灣、香港各地從事舞台編劇導演工作逾四十年；編、導作品逾六十部。70年於紐 約創立四海劇社，任該社藝術總監十多載，為該團編導作品包括其自編之創作劇 如《 西 太 后》、《太平 天國》、《 餓 虎 狂年 》；中 外 經 典 如《國 王 與 我 》、 《西遊記》、《十五貫》、《七十二家房客》等。80年代初應香港市政局邀請，出 任香港話劇團客席導演及編劇，至86年正式委任為該團藝術總監，著作、改編及 導演作品包括莎劇《嫉》；於87、88、89年香港藝術節上演之百老匯歌舞劇《有 酒今朝醉》、中國經典《石頭記》及金庸名著《笑傲江湖》；香港文化中心啟幕節 目之一《俏紅娘》；於廣州演出杜國威主編之《人間有情》；其自編於第十屆亞洲 藝術節首演之《誰繫故園心》以及於北美巡迴之《花近高樓》，由亞洲華爾街日 報譬為「震撼時代的作品。」陳博士於92年在紐約合創美國長江劇團，導演曹禺 名著《原野》、《日出》及《雷雨》；老舍之《駱駝祥子》；黃哲倫之《聲聲相惜》 以及原創劇本如英語音樂劇《紫禁城西》，探討華人在美百年經歷。其原創作品 黑色喜劇《一家一孩一扇門》於01年成功首演；並於02年Jane Chambers全 美劇本比賽中獲選為最佳劇本之一。同年開始在紐約州北重犯監獄《通過藝術 重新做人》工作坊服務，04年秋導演黑裔犯人演出美國首席黑人編劇奧根士．威 爾遜力作《汽車服務》。06年秋導演希臘古劇《愛德柏斯王》，由劇界權威米高． 美利藝斯稱譽：「是次演出，必為該劇二千五百年來最出色作品之一。」10年陳博 士再應香港話劇團邀請，創作及導演《中國皇后號》，於11年1月在香港大會堂劇 院作世界首演。 陳博士於南中國長大，自香港中文大學崇基學院畢業，主修數學；後於菲律賓進 修神學；再自哥倫比亞大學教育研究院獲文學碩士，教育碩士及教育博士名銜， 主修戲劇。82年獲哥大教育研究院委任為傳理系教授。94年獲該校頒贈傑出校 友殊榮，為該校逾百年歷史上首位獲此榮銜之香港華人。同年6月再獲紐約市府 褒獎，表揚其過去數十年在藝術上及為海外華人社會所作之貢獻。 陳博士為美國編劇家協會成員。86至97年，為香港新晚報海 外劇 訊主筆。 其85年作品《誰繫故園心》英語版本入選英國牛津大學出版社中國現代戲劇集。 其88年作品《花近高樓》入選為中國戲劇百年歷史上最重要的二十三個劇本之 一，10年底由歌倫比亞大學出版。目前除戲劇及藝術工作外，又為瑪利諾修院展 覽館創辦人及館長，並繼續在紐約州北重刑犯監獄服務。最近並協助一個無辜 受困十七年冤獄的人重見生天。 陳博士亦從事繪畫設計，其油畫、水彩畫及電腦插畫設計，自99年開始在紐約州 北及市內多次展出。99年底其油畫《耶路撒冷.98》參加美國權威宗教周報舉辦 「新紀元耶穌新形象」全球比賽，於19個國家近一千七百件作品中入選為六十件 最佳作品之一。00年隨入選作品在美國巡迴展出八個月。另一油畫作品《暮春的 風采》由美國油畫家協會選拔為03年全美最佳作品之一。 陳博士又為瑪利諾修女，今年將慶祝進會五十年金禧。
An honoree at “An All-Star Salute to Chinese American Cultural Pioneers” at City Hall, NYC, in July 1993, (with July 9, 1993, named Joanna Chan Day in the City of New York), and a recipient of a 1994 Distinguished Alumni Award from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she earned her M.A., M. Ed., and Ed. D. degrees, majoring in Theatre/Communications, Joanna Chan has been a prolific playwright and stage director in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada and the U.S. for over 40 years. Co-founder and Artistic Director (1970-77; 83-92) of the Four Seas Players in NYC, and Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre (1986-90), Dr. Chan co-founded Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America in 1992 to produce works for and by Asian artists. The nearly 70 productions written, adapted and directed by her include Shakespeare’s Othello; Wilder’s The Match Maker as an opening event of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in 1989; the musicals The King and I, and Cabaret for the 1988 Hong Kong Arts Festival; the Chinese literary masterpiece, Dream of the Red Chamber, for the 1987 Hong Kong Arts Festival; Raymond To’s Where Love Abides which she directed and took to China in 1987; as well as her own plays reflecting the relationship between Hong Kong and China in view of 1997: Before the Dawn-wind Rises, commissioned by the Hong Kong Urban Council for the 10th Asian Arts Festival; and Crown Ourselves with Roses, commissioned by Sing Tao Newspapers, which, cited by the Asian Wall Street Journal as ‘a tour de force of our times,” toured North America in 1989. The play was included in An Anthology of Modern Chinese Theater as one of 23 most significant works in Chinese theatre in the past 100 years, published by Columbia University Press (2010). An English version of Before the Dawn-Wind Rises has been included in An Oxford Anthology of Chinese Contemporary Drama (1997). Her OneFamilyOneChildOneDoor, a black comedy on the human cost of China’s one-child policy, premiered in 2001, and revived in 2002 and 2003, was named one of two finalists in the Jane Chambers Playwriting Contest. She was commissioned by Hong Kong Repertory Theatre to write and direct The Empress of China which received its world premiere at City Hall Theatre in Hong Kong in Jan, 2011. Early this year, she received another proclamation from New York City Council for her decades of contributions to the arts and the Chinese community. Dr. Chan began working in the Rehabilitation Through The Arts Program at Sing Sing Maximum Security Correctional Facilities in 2002, directing the inmates in August Wilson’s Jitney in 2003; and in November 2006, in the critically acclaimed production of Sophocle’s The Oedipus Rex, hailed as a work that gave the play ‘one of its finest hours 2,500 years later’ (Michael Millius). Most recently, after 6 long years’ effort, she was instrumental in the release of an innocent man jailed in Sing Sing prison for 17 years. Dr. Chan grew up in Guangzhou, China, and is a graduate of Chung Chi College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, majoring in Mathematics. A member of the Dramatists Guild in the U.S., she was a columnist for The New Evening Post in Hong Kong from 1986 to 1997. An accomplished painter and designer, her art works (oils, water colors and computer designs) have been presented in solo and group exhibitions in upstate and downtown New York. Dr. Chan is also a Maryknoll Sister. She will be marking her Golden Jubilee in the religious community this year.
05