from Oxford University Chinese Drama Society

St John's College Auditorium, Oxford, OX1 3JP

Saturday 21st February 2026 - Sunday 22nd February 2026

Content Warning: Rape, Underage Grooming, Sexual Abuse, Domestic Violence, Mental Illness, Suicide Ideation, Alcohol Abuse, Trauma.

Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise by Lin Yi-Han is one of the most, if not the most, influential book in the MeToo movement for Chinese speaking communities. As the first novel told from the perspective of a victim of sexual abuse, this acute, heartbreaking, but beautiful story highlights how power, literature, and societal complicity intersect in sexual violence, and explores themes of love, trauma, and the vulnerability of young women.

The story follows how Fang Si-Chi, a brilliant and sensitive teenage girl with a deep love for literature, is systematically groomed and sexually abused by her middle-aged literature tutor, Li Guo-Hua. The narrative meticulously details how Si-Chi, unable to process the horror of the abuse and trapped in a society that silences victims, copes by persuading herself that she is in love with her abuser. This internal narrative is a survival mechanism, an attempt to cloak a violent crime in the only framework she has access to—the romantic tropes of the literature she adores. The story ultimately leads to her psychological disintegration.

Our adapted version of the play retells her story when her best friend Liu Yi-Ting discover Si-Chi’s diary. Through this nested narrative, we hope to not only bring awareness to societal narrative and stereotypes on victimization and mental illness, but also explore the power and beauty of literature and narratives. The play also involves a series of other female victims as internal narrators. We also hope to criticize the abusers through these characters’ stories, as well as shed light on the complexity of friendship, sisterhood, and kindness.

Tickets: Fang Si-Chi's First Love Paradise at St John's College Auditorium event tickets from TicketSource