NTU drama department founding chair Hu Yao-heng dies at 87

Taipei, Feb. 18 (CNA) Hu Yao-heng (胡耀恆), the founding chairperson of National Taiwan University's (NTU) Graduate Institute of Drama and Theatre, died Friday, the university's drama department said in a statement Saturday. Hu was 87.

No cause of death was given.

Aside from founding the institute in 1995, Hu was the director of the now-defunct National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center for three years starting in 1990, the statement said, and he also established the undergraduate drama and theater program at NTU in 1999.

Born in the Chinese province of Hubei in 1936, Hu graduated from NTU's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures before earning a master's degree in drama from Baylor University and a doctoral degree in drama and comparative literature from Indiana University.

After teaching at Michigan State University and the University of Hawaii in the U.S. and the University of Melbourne in Australia, Hu returned to Taiwan to teach in NTU's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

In 1974, Hu's Chinese translation of a textbook during his studies -- Oscar Brockett's "Theatre Art Appreciation: History of The Theatre" -- was published in Taiwan.

He later translated Greek plays, including "Oedipus the King," "Agamemnon" and "The Bacchae" into Chinese, before publishing his own two-volume work "History of Western Theatre and Drama" in Chinese in November 2014.

In a 2016 interview with PAR (previously "Performing Arts Review," now "Performing Arts Redefined"), a magazine he launched during his time at the cultural center, Hu explained why he wrote the two-volume book.

He said his 1974 translation of the textbook was widely used in the Chinese-speaking world, but he felt during his teaching days that it was inadequate for the task at hand.

Wang An-chi (王安祈), the art director of the state-run GuoGuang Opera Company and an emeritus professor in NTU's drama and theater department, told CNA on Saturday that Hu's main academic contribution was in the field of Western drama and theater.

During his three years at the cultural center, however, Hu also valued the performing arts of the East, Wang said, citing the National Theater's hosting of Chinese Kun opera performer Hua Wenyi (華文漪) in 1992.

"That was the first time a professional Kun opera performer came to Taiwan to perform. That sparked interest among people in Taiwan, and led to today's flourishing Kun opera scene," she said.

Best known for creating modern Peking opera works, GuoGuang now promotes and presents Peking opera and Kun opera in Taiwan.

Moreover, the National Theater will stage the 20th-aniversary edition of Kun opera piece "The Peony Pavilion -- The Youth Version by Pai Hsien-yung (白先勇)" during the Taiwan International Festival for Arts in three parts March 29-31.

Former National Theater and Concert Hall director Lee Huey-mei (李惠美), meanwhile, credited Hu for introducing first-class performances from around the world to Taiwan, including the Japanese art of Kabuki and the first visit by the Vienna Philharmonic led by conductor Seiji Ozawa in 1993.

"Sometimes when he had a new idea, he'd just run into our office without shoes and share it with us," Lee said about her former boss.