4 plays awarded Gold Medals at the National Stage Arts Festival for Children and Youth

On the evening of May 20, the first National Stage Arts Festival for Youth and Children in 2024, organized by the Vietnam Stage Artists Association in coordination with the People's Committee of Hai Phong City and the Department of Culture and Sports of Hai Phong, closed at the Hai Phong City Theater.

Scene from the play "The Cat Who Taught the Seagull to Fly" (Youth Theater) - Festival Gold Medal. (Photo: Youth Theater)

After a week of exciting performances (from May 13), 14 art units participating in the Festival brought 17 unique plays for teenagers and children, performed in many forms: drama, folk opera, puppetry, circus...

Summing up the artistic quality of the Festival, People's Artist Xuan Bac, Chairman of the Festival Jury, commented: Each work participating in the Festival conveys an educational message, contributing to raising awareness for children in a gentle and humorous way.

There are many works inspired by Vietnamese fairy tales, folk tales, and lessons in textbooks such as "The Hundred-Joint Bamboo Tree", "The Sound of Thach Sanh's Lute", "The Magical Sticky Rice - The Story of Bom", "Grandma's Tale"; there are plays recreating history and heroic characters in adolescence such as "The Flag Embroidered with Six Golden Words", "The Sun of the Homeland".

People's Artist Xuan Bac evaluates the quality of the festival's art.

“This is a very effective approach to children to raise awareness of history, educate revolutionary traditions, and honor the indomitable will and courage of heroic young people through a theatrical work,” People's Artist Xuan Bac emphasized.

In addition, there are also plays that bring world fairy tales, characters from comics, cartoons, and video games that are loved by children to the stage such as: "The Swans", "The Cat Who Taught the Seagulls to Fly", "The Return of the Dragon" ..., with investment in new technology, visual performances, familiar "trendy" sentences creating a lively interactive effect. Some plays have mentioned social issues such as school violence or pressing problems that are happening in reality such as: "The Color of Dreams", "The Alarm Bell", "Tears of Childhood" ...

However, besides the bright spots, the Festival also revealed some limitations such as: authors, works Children's stage There are still too few, some creative elements and actors still bring an adult perspective to their works, so they have not created an innocent, pure, and lovely perspective that attracts young children. Some units have not really distinguished clearly between works about children and works for children, leading to some plays that are not really attractive to young audiences...

“We hope that the Festival will be a boost for artists, art units, provinces, cities, ministries, departments and branches to pay due attention to stage art for children, so that children can go from knowing to understanding, from understanding to loving, from loving to being passionate and with the senses in their souls can evaluate a stage work in their own way” - People's Artist Xuan Bac expressed.

People's Artist Trinh Thuy Mui, President of the Vietnam Stage Artists Association, delivered the closing speech of the Festival.

Closing the Festival, People's Artist Trinh Thuy Mui, President of the Vietnam Stage Artists Association, expressed her hope that from this art festival, artists will gain more knowledge and professional experience, continue to constantly improve their skills, create more meaningful and quality works to serve teenagers and children, the future owners of the country, and at the same time build a young audience for the stage.

In the end, the Organizing Committee awarded 4 Gold Medals to the plays: "The Cat Who Taught the Seagull to Fly" (Youth Theater), "The Return of the Dragon" (Vietnam Drama Theater), "The Adventures of Men the Cricket" (Hai Phong Puppetry Art Troupe), and "The Magical Sticky Rice - The Story of Bom" (Hanoi Cheo Theater).

Award Gold Medals for outstanding performances.

3 Silver medals were awarded to the plays: "Tam Cam - Bong bong bang bang" (Vietnam Circus Federation), "The Sun of the Homeland" (Hai Phong Drama Troupe), "The Flag Embroidered with 6 Golden Words" (Sen Viet Stage).

The festival also awarded 25 Gold and 37 Silver awards to actors.

Awarding Gold Medals to outstanding actors.

In addition, there were 7 excellent awards given to creative elements, including: Excellent Director (Dao Duy Anh, play "The Cat Who Taught the Seagull to Fly"); Excellent Musician (Tuan Nghia, play "The Adventures of Men the Cricket"), Excellent Painter (Meritorious Artist Van Truc, play "The Magical Sticky Rice - The Story of Bom"); Excellent Choreographer (Phung Khai, play "The Hundred-Joint Bamboo Tree"); Excellent Sound Director (Dang The Hieu, play "The Divine Dragon Returns"); Excellent Lighting Design (Viet Tuan, play "The Sun of the Homeland"); Excellent Visual Artist (Meritorious Artist The Khien, play "The Adventures of Men the Cricket").

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