People's Artist Tran Luc tells the story "Tomorrow the sky will be bright again" with emotional, experimental language.

NSND Trần Lực kể chuyện — From left to right: Dinh Thu Hien, Nguyen Khanh Limh, Cao Xuan Hai Long in the play "Tomorrow the sky will be bright again"

On the morning of November 21, Luc Team Stage debuted the play "Tomorrow the sky will be bright again" in the fresh, warm air of Ninh Binh .

Among many options for accessible entertainment, the appearance of the play "Tomorrow the sky will be bright again" on the stage of the 6th Experimental Theatre Festival - 2025 has shown a persistent, profound and serious direction with experimental language in the form of staging by Tran Luc.

Based on the script by author Dinh Xuan Hoa, People's Artist Tran Luc did not simply re-enact a social psychological play set in Saigon before 1975, but "modernized" the work with a new form of expression, creating a staged discourse that breathes the era, strongly conversing with today's audience.

What I like most is the way he arranges the light, with just one beam of light, sometimes dim, sometimes bright, the audience can hear the lawyer of the case recount with layers of performance interwoven very intelligently and engagingly. The character's actions are very realistic, from the way water is poured into the flower vase to the meal full of the wife's love for her husband.

All are present in the audience's perception as if they were watching scenes filmed on set.

Tran Luc - When old script meets new stage thinking

In terms of plot, "Tomorrow the sky will be bright again" is not a new story. The tragedy of Loc - an upright, poor, honest man to the end and Van - a woman who used to have a luxurious life, not willing to accept poverty when she became his wife, is a familiar slice in the Vietnamese social psychological drama genre that theater-loving audiences have seen somewhere in plays such as: "Lady of the Camellias", "Half a Life of Powder"...

But that familiarity became a very special "testing ground" for director Tran Luc, when he did not seek to innovate by changing the script, but innovated by looking at and expressing emotions through each situation, each line of dialogue.

The story is therefore told very gently, the sound is not too loud but almost as if it is happening very real, drawing the audience into becoming a witness to the story.

Even with music , his approach is respected by experts, because it flows gently into the listener's ears even during the climax.

In fact, there are many experimental plays with very good staging but the sound is too loud, making the audience startled because the sound amplification has ruined the quality of experimentation and exploration of new things for the stage.

Tran Luc - Minimalist space, expanded depth

One of the most unique features in People's Artist Tran Luc's staging is the absolutely minimalist stage design: just a single wooden platform.

But this simplicity opens up a wide field of association that makes viewers feel sorry for the character and also draws them into Loc's solution, and then regrets that he was too hot-tempered and led to his own tragedy.

The wooden platform in the play is not only a performance space, but also: the platform of the court of conscience, the platform of memory and the platform of exposing personal morality before invisible public opinion.

The actors lived with the characters and the scenery because it was so real, so close, and the artistic elements of the work made the space of the play come alive.

That intelligent handling shows Tran Luc's consistent thinking: bringing the stage back to its essence - a living space for people, not a place to illustrate the story, but a place where the story is taking place and entering the audience's mind, gently but passionately.

Image, sound, light: a whole rich in symbols

In the play, the director used technical elements very sparingly, but each effect had a clear expressive value.

Sound is not simply a matter of atmosphere, but of psychological rhythm. Silences are placed at key moments, forcing the audience not just to “see” but to “hear” the character’s emptiness.

Lighting is not meant to depict space, but to create emotion: to divide, layer, and tear apart characters. There are moments when the light focuses on only one part of the body, turning actors into moving "mood marks" instead of complete people.

That is the technique of creating a visual psychological stage, which Tran Luc has persistently pursued for many years. In the upcoming conference, this will be dissected so that the public can understand better and international friends can sympathize more with Tran Luc's way of doing things.

From reality to convention – a path of persistent experimentation

It is noteworthy that People's Artist Tran Luc does not deny reality, but goes hand in hand between reality and convention.

The family story set in pre-1975 Saigon still retains its original spirit, but the way it is expressed goes beyond the usual realistic framework.

Today's audiences see the story and feel it is very close and very practical to reflect on their own family.

The character Van is a symbol of misguided material desires, Mai is a symbol of cognitive rebirth. Loc is a change, a renewal to live worthy of being Mai's father after many events.

Tran Luc's experiment is therefore not a "deviation from the norm", but rather a search for a new standard for old storytelling on the contemporary stage. What the stage needs, this international festival is also aiming for.

Tran Luc - A choice of commitment, no compromise

At an age where he has experienced many peaks and challenges in his career, People's Artist Tran Luc still chooses the difficult path: experimental theater. Not following trends, not innovating with ease, he puts the audience in a state of having to think, having to dialogue with the work, having to "co-create" when watching.

"Tomorrow is Bright Again" is therefore a story about people in the past, and a reminder for the present. That the stage, if it dares to experiment to the very core of its nature, can still become a place to reflect on human destiny in a sharp and humane way.

However, the characters need to be more realistic when speaking, like the lawyer character who just tells the story in a monotonous manner without any highlights, as if he's memorized a script and just reads it dryly.

And it is this silent dedication that affirms one thing: People's Artist Tran Luc is not only a person who renews old scripts, but also a person who persistently expands the borders of contemporary Vietnamese theater.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/nsnd-tran-luc-ke-chuyen-ngay-mai-troi-lai-sang-bang-ngon-ngu-thu-nghiem-giau-cam-xuc-196251121170220851.htm