What can the Vietnamese theater scene do to escape its current deadlock?

This leaves anyone interested in Vietnamese theatrical life feeling disappointed and troubled…

Back to… gloomy times

At the recent 2023 Theatre Awards ceremony, Dr. Nguyen Dang Chuong, Vice President of the Vietnam Theatre Artists Association, stated that the lack of A prizes for both plays and literary scripts in the 2023 Theatre Awards was a great pity. The art council had to "separate the wheat from the chaff" to select a number of B prizes. This somewhat reflects the state of theatre art over the past year, leaving us with a feeling of uncertainty and discouragement.

A scene from the play "Thunderstorm" by Le Ngoc Theatre - the winner of the B Prize at the 2023 Theatre Awards. Photo: Le Ngoc Theatre

Considering that theatrical life in 2023 has returned to the gloom and stagnation of previous years, Dr. Nguyen Dang Chuong further emphasized that the "bottlenecks" that have existed for many years have yet to be resolved. Among them, the biggest "bottleneck," and the most difficult challenge currently, is the crisis in the creative workforce. For many years, and even in 2023, the theater has consistently lacked scripts on contemporary themes, on pressing issues impacting many aspects, changing people and society in the era of integration. Playwrights seem to be avoiding, standing outside, the vibrant reality unfolding daily, impacting all aspects of people and society, and renewing value systems. This confirms that the team of playwrights remains "idle" in the face of the reality of life, with its countless materials flowing by every day.

“The team of authors is facing a deadlock regarding creative direction and the methods of understanding and interpreting the contradictions and conflicts of society and people today. Perhaps because of this deadlock, most authors choose to write about historical and folk themes, not daring to venture into reflecting all aspects of contemporary life. However, the majority of works only reach the level of illustrating history,” stated the Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Stage Artists.

Mr. Chuong also argued that theatrical criticism has been weak for many years. Currently, the criticism force consists only of a few older writers, with no successor generation. "Theatrical art, without the influence of those working in theatrical criticism and theory, is like a car without brakes, both going uphill and going downhill," Mr. Chuong said, using an analogy.

From a different perspective, researcher Nguyen The Khoa offers a much more positive assessment of theatrical life in 2023. He believes that after more than two decades of crisis (since 1990), the theater has made a strong comeback in the last five years. In 2022, the theater witnessed a resurgence after two years of suppression due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, the theater continues its development trend, and more importantly, it is "developing in the right direction."

According to Mr. Khoa, in 2023, the state-owned theater sector experienced a strong resurgence, with theaters lighting up more frequently. Even the niche genre of traditional Vietnamese opera (tuong) saw the Vietnam National Opera Theater "momentum" and ticket sales improve. "The number of shows in 2023 was higher; for example, the Hanoi Drama Theater, which only started in 2022, performed more nights in 2023. The Vietnam National Drama Theater also lit up more frequently and even experienced sold-out shows," Mr. Khoa cited as examples.

A scene from the play "Thunderstorm" by Le Ngoc Theatre - the winner of the B Prize at the 2023 Theatre Awards. Photo: Le Ngoc Theatre

Mr. Khoa further emphasized that this movement is even more evident in the non-governmental theater sector. In Hanoi, besides the Le Ngoc Theater, which has been well-known for many years, the LucTeam Theater is also an interesting option. LucTeam's play "The Doll," although not performed regularly, has very noteworthy and popular innovations. For the Le Ngoc Theater, many plays from 2022-2023, such as "King Lear" and "The 72nd Letter," have been performed hundreds of times but still experience sold-out performances. In Ho Chi Minh City, many theater venues have shown a clear recovery in 2023, and many more non-governmental theater units have emerged, operating more successfully than in previous years.

Working together to remove the "bottlenecks"

However, despite all that, many professionals in the field share the same opinion: theatrical art still has "many weak plays and a lack of good ones." According to Associate Professor Dr. Tran Tri Trac, even with numerous festivals and competitions and many medals awarded, we still lack masterpieces; artists are awarded many titles, but the theater still lacks audiences; the State actively invests in experimental theater, yet theatrical art remains outdated and backward…

According to experts, a compelling performance first requires a good script. However, in reality, the number of good scripts has been limited. To overcome this shortage, the Vietnam Association of Theatre Artists often organizes scriptwriting workshops. However, Mr. Nguyen The Khoa believes that due to a "lack of attention," most of the scripts written are not used; "typically, out of 20 scripts written, only one is used to stage a play."

To address this issue, Mr. Khoa suggested that the Association of Stage Artists should leverage the richness of Vietnamese literature, as there is an abundance of excellent material for the stage in literature; adaptation is merely a technical matter that is not too difficult. "I have proposed to the President of the Association of Stage Artists the establishment of a Drama Literature Committee within the Association, inviting writers to participate and commissioning them to create works to enrich the content for the stage," Mr. Khoa stated.

According to researcher Nguyen The Khoa, for Vietnamese theater to continue developing, it is necessary to recognize and address the biggest obstacle currently: the mechanical and inefficient merger of many public cultural and artistic institutions. This leads to situations where singers and dancers have to perform on stage, and actors from traditional opera (cheo) perform spoken drama, from classical opera (tuong) to cheo, and vice versa, while staffing and funding remain largely unchanged. Some localities even consolidate all art units into a single cultural center – a grassroots arts organization. This haphazard approach has brutally "amateurized" theater.

A scene from the play "Half the Mountain and River" by the Nguyen Hien Dinh Traditional Opera Theatre, which won the B Prize at the 2023 Theatre Awards. Photo: Nguyen Hien Dinh Traditional Opera Theatre

"We could absolutely take a different approach by moving theaters out of the public sector. But to do that, we need policies on this matter, for example, what about tax policies, land and property policies, and how will the bidding process for theatrical productions work be handled when it leaves the public sector?" - Mr. Khoa said.

Many experts also agree that, in order for theatrical arts to produce more worthy works, there needs to be concerted effort to remove "bottlenecks," and coordination between state management agencies, art units, the Vietnam Association of Theatre Artists, and the artists directly involved in creative work.

Theaters need to proactively source their scripts; they cannot passively wait for authors to send them scripts, only staging them if they are suitable. Besides training and encouragement, theaters need to modernize and apply technology to sound, lighting, design, and visuals... in a way that both preserves the unique characteristics of each theatrical form and suits the audience's needs, especially in today's technological boom. The theater needs to adapt to survive, and attracting audiences and maintaining consistent performances are prerequisites for achieving this goal.

Khanh Ngoc

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/san-khau-viet-nam-lam-gi-de-thoat-khoi-su-be-tac-post288589.html