Paving the way for theatre with experimental touches

Scene from the play "The Elderly Carrying Carriers with Hunched Backs" ( Ninh Binh Traditional Arts Theater) - a work that won the Gold Medal at the 2025 International Experimental Theater Festival.

The festival marks the creative efforts of professionals on the journey of wanting to bring the stage out of the rut to integrate and break through.

With the largest scale of participation ever - gathering 8 international art units and 19 domestic art units, bringing 27 plays of diverse genres, the 2025 International Experimental Theatre Festival is also the season that records the most outstanding experimental marks. Playing the role of host, Vietnamese theatre has made other countries admire the innovative explorations expressed in many creative stages, from scriptwriting to directing, acting, art design, lighting, sound...

This can be clearly seen in “The Rubber Sandal Man” (Vietnam Drama Theater) - one of two plays that won the Outstanding Award of the festival. As director, Dr. and Distinguished Teacher Le Manh Hung had a bold approach in breaking the traditional drama structure, breaking away from the conventions of time and space to effectively recreate the great movements of history. The play has no twists or turns, and almost no props, the character system is a unified block, with dramatic actions arranged side by side on the stage..., bringing new artistic experiences to the audience.

Meanwhile, the play “Peach Blossom” ( Hanoi Cheo Theatre) impressed with its minimalist stage space, where the plot only takes place in a single scene, forcing the audience to focus on the character’s performance and deep inner dialogues and monologues.

With “The old men carrying hunched shoulders” (Ninh Binh Traditional Arts Theatre - Gold Medal for the play), the audience is treated to a bold combination of drama, cheo, cai luong, puppetry… with wordplay and traditional and modern musical treatments.

In particular, the experimental mark is also strongly present in the artists' performances, as in the case of Meritorious Artist Tuyet Thu in the play "Son Ha" (Sen Viet Stage, Silver Medal for the play) with a heavy monologue role; or when the actors in "Nguyet Ha" (Hong Van Drama Stage, Gold Medal for the play) had to act, sing and dance skillfully and speak bilingually on stage...

In the position of “bringing bells to strike foreign lands”, international art units have contributed to the experimental playground with many impressive creations. If “Universe” (Theatre Creative Research Theater - Mongolia, Gold Medal for the play) conquered the audience with the language of physical acting that evoked concentration and imagination, then “Pipa Ji” (Viet Drama Troupe of Thuy An city, Zhejiang province - China, Gold Medal for the play) created a unique experience when all the characters were played by female artists, but still portrayed the male character in a subtle expressive language.

Notably, “Which Night Is Tonight” (Fish Ancient Theatre Troupe, Zhanhua, Shandong Province, China, Outstanding Performance Award) made the audience burst into tears at the meeting of the spirit of Chinese opera and contemporary experimental theatrical thinking expressed through a non-linear structure combining body language and music. “With Phi or Without Phi” by Dutch artist of Vietnamese origin Phi Nguyen was also highly appreciated for its combination of acting, music and stand-up comedy…

Through the exploration of new theatrical languages based on the foundation of traditional expression, the works participating in the festival have contributed to revealing the unlimited creative amplitudes of the stage. Experimental trends in physical, visual, non-verbal stage with the help of multimedia technology elements show that today's stage increasingly focuses on the audience's intuitive perception. Notably, many works were widely performed before being entered into the competition, proving that experimentation is no longer a strange story, but has become an inherent requirement of theatrical creation on the journey to attract the public.

According to the Jury, the 2025 International Experimental Theatre Festival is like a multi-colored picture containing the creative aspirations of artists. The presence of diverse genres shows that the performing arts is not outside the law of development, that law is to constantly create and innovate to create new values.

Participating in the festival, some authors dared to experiment with their own paths. Some combined fantasy and reality; others mixed stories from different periods to create a different whole… Most of the directors abandoned the realistic method, trying to take advantage of and exploit the conventional space to expand the expressive ability of the work. Besides, there were also plays with script structures that were not new but won the hearts of the audience because of the artists' outstanding acting ability…

However, from the festival, we can also see the gaps that need to be filled in theatrical creativity. Dr. and playwright Nguyen Dang Chuong, Vice President of the Vietnam Stage Artists Association and Chairman of the Festival Jury, frankly stated that participating in this festival, domestic art units have brought more experimental scripts than in previous seasons, but the number of good scripts is still too modest. This fact proves that the authors are still struggling and stuck in the method and technique in the art of screenwriting - the most important element that determines the success or failure of a work. Besides, although there have been some highly experimental plays, there are still strange and new things that are difficult to understand, making the audience tense and frustrated...

Participating in this festival, domestic art units have brought more experimental scripts than in previous seasons, but the number of good scripts is still too modest. This fact proves that the authors are still struggling and stuck in the method and technique in the art of screenwriting - the most important element that determines the success or failure of the work. Besides, although there have been some highly experimental plays, there are still strange and new things that are difficult to understand, making the audience tense and frustrated...
Dr., playwright Nguyen Dang Chuong, Vice President of Vietnam Stage Artists Association, Chairman of the Festival Jury

It can be seen that the reception from colleagues and audiences for valuable experiments at the festival further strengthens the view that theatrical innovation must be the result of an artistic thinking process based on the harmony between new language and identity, not simply the strangeness of the form of expression, creating superficial effects. As Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Thai commented, experimentation is for innovation but does not mean creating something different. The nature of theater is dialogue, so works need to find a way to dialogue with issues raised in life as well as a way to dialogue with the public...

When it comes to experimentation, there will be both success and failure, but the experimental efforts from this festival are valuable steps to find a bright path for the stage, and at the same time demonstrate the spirit of dedication and daring to accept challenges of those in the profession, bringing the stage truly in tune with today's life.

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