Experiment so that the stage is not always in the safe zone

Scene from the musical Illusion - Photo: LINH DOAN

The festival is organized by the Vietnam Stage Artists Association and will last until November 30 in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi , Hai Phong and the main location is Ninh Binh.

Ho Chi Minh City "launches" experimental drama

The International Experimental Theatre Festival held in Vietnam is now the sixth time, held every three years. Previously, it was only held in Hanoi, but this year it expanded to four locations, especially Ho Chi Minh City.

This is the place where the stage is most active in the country, however, the socialized units are still responsible for keeping the stage lit regularly. For them, worrying about food, clothing, and money, and raising troops to maintain the stage is tiring enough, where is the money to "feed friends and boats" to compete.

Therefore, by choosing to organize an additional location in Ho Chi Minh City, the organizers hope to create favorable conditions for the city's stage artists to have the opportunity to compete and show their creativity to their peers and international judges.

The previous times were only about 1-2 units, but this time it increased to six plays, including Ao Quan (5B Drama Theater), Hon Tho Ngoc (Youth World Experimental Theater), Con Hong Thuy (Ho Chi Minh City Theater - Cinema Association), Son Ha (Sen Viet Theater), Nguyet Ha (Hong Van Drama Theater) and Chuyen Cua Na (Hero Film Entertainment Company Limited).

Experimental theatre festivals often face a high risk of being unpopular because they are considered difficult to watch and difficult to understand. However, in Ho Chi Minh City, the situation is the opposite. The two opening performances were extremely lively, with the auditorium packed. And even more surprising was the good atmosphere. The audience was excited until the last minute.

The two plays belong to two different genres and colors. Illusion is a musical, using many new forms from the script, staging, stage design to music and acting. The play touches on hot issues in today's society about gender, loneliness, family relationships, and social prejudice.

Still the Soul of Poetry is a cai luong play based on a script by author Le Duy Hanh (adapted by Le Hoang Long), directed by Nguyen Dat in a very different style than before. The play is performed by artist Binh Tinh (as princess Ngoc Han) with about 60 artists.

Respecting differences

Artist My Uyen - Director of 5B Drama Theater, who also plays the role of the mother in the musical Ao Quan (author and director: Chinh Ba) - said that making an experimental play takes a lot of time and effort and is picky about the audience.

With Illusion , the crew spent four months rehearsing. The play was not intended to be performed at festivals, but when they heard it was being performed in Ho Chi Minh City, they registered as a way to show everyone their efforts and creativity.

"Doing experimental plays is hard, but we feel very "satisfied" because we get to try new things, be creative, explore everything and bring it to the stage the way we want" - My Uyen confided.

Artist Binh Tinh in the play Soul of Jade Poetry - Photo: LINH DOAN

As for artist Binh Tinh, who is very familiar with traditional opera, now she is venturing into experimental opera, which to her is a "miracle".

She confided that the character of Princess Ngoc Han in Hon Tho Ngoc has nothing to do with her strengths. Binh Tinh wanted to return the script several times because she was afraid of failure, but for some reason she still craved to face difficulties.

Ngoc's Poetry Soul not only created a beautiful impression at the beginning of the festival but also marked Binh Tinh's remarkable progress, making professionals have a different view of her.

Artist Giang Manh Ha , head of the festival's organizing committee, said the organizers' wish is to find new, unique, and attractive things for the stage.

He explained: the test is a test of the scriptwriting techniques, that is, the language and storytelling of the literary script or a test of the director's thinking and staging techniques in terms of space and time, or it can be a test of music processing and acting direction, which is different from traditional theater.

Experimentation must be understood very clearly as experimenting to create something new, to find a new direction, a new way of doing things for the Vietnamese stage in particular and the world. Experimentation is not necessarily correct or accurate, it may not be applicable immediately but it is still necessary for the common development.

"The stage in our country mainly follows the traditional form, meaning old techniques, old ways of telling stories. From training schools to art troupes, the common denominator is still choosing safety, rarely seeing breakthroughs, boldness of commitment.

In many European countries, people encourage uniqueness and difference in experimental theater, which creates conditions and promotes creativity. Experimentation is not an easy path, it requires a process, failure will lead to success, the important thing is that professionals must be aware of finding new things to create good artistic products to serve the audience" - Mr. Ha emphasized.

The 2025 International Experimental Theatre Festival attracted nearly 1,000 artists to participate in 28 plays by Vietnamese and international troupes such as Poland, Uzbekistan, the Netherlands, China, South Korea, Israel, Japan...

The opening ceremony of the festival took place on the evening of November 20 at Pham Thi Tran Theater (Ninh Binh). In the first performance in Ho Chi Minh City, the organizing committee announced the jury, including the president, playwright Nguyen Dang Chuong. The remaining four members include Ms. Doina Cezarina Lupu (Romanian theater expert and judge), director Tsuyoshi Sugiyama (Japan), director - actress - choreographer Lulu Marie Aurelia Obermayer (Germany) and director Tran Thang Vinh.

LINH DOAN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thu-nghiem-de-san-khau-khong-mai-trong-vung-an-toan-20251118092236232.htm