“Da co hoai lang” is a popular stage performace among young audiences. (Photo courtesy of nld.com.vn) Theatrical performances in HCM City resumed on March 1.
As traditional art has been struggling with attracting young audiences’interest, the Vietnam Association of Theatrical Artists has beenworking on the “Building young audiences for local stages” project and hasconducted research for future planning.
The year 2020 marked an unprecedented year in the history of theatrical andartistic activities. Nearly the first six months went by without anyactivity due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, thisoffered an opportunity for the stage performance industry to seek newdirections.
People’s Artist Trinh Thuy Mui, chairwoman of the Vietnam Association ofTheatrical Artists, said the new project has been supported byexperts. Each region plans to come up with a different model tobring stage performances closer to the youth.
She said the stage performance industry has been put into a challengingposition in which they must start producing meaningful content for youngaudiences.
New stage performance activities have been introduced this month.This is the time for local artists to change their mindset when itcomes to making art, she added.
Recently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched a campaign tosupport existing theatres, but it is not considered a sustainabledirection to efficiently build a young audience base.
People’s Artist Tran Minh Ngoc said it is important to examine everyphase, including writing scripts and managing the stage, among others.
Associate Professor and Dr Tran Tri Trac said the Vietnamese theatrearts have not escaped the “lack of a young audience” crisis.
Artists’ aesthetic tastes have yet to find a common ground with today’syoung audiences.
“I believe the audience is one of the basic elements of theatre arts andit has received little attention for quite a long while. Strategicinvestment should be made for young audiences via theatre aesthetic educationat school," he said.
Current stage performances at schools play a crucial role inenhancing human values through active participation in cultural and artisticactivities.
But theatre plays at schools lack depth. Applying the model of schooltheatre and arranging age-appropriate performances is key to resolving thematter, he added.
Meanwhile, Mui said that school stages should be seriously invested andproduced in a way that is suitable to each region.
People’s Artist Tran Ngoc Giau, president of the HCM City TheatreAssociation, added that in a developed society, today’s young audiences aretechnology-savvy and have many options in terms of entertainment.
As such, theatrical tastes should not be forced on to people butshould rather inspire and pull young audiences to the stage. This isthe vital mission of the current theatrical art. Many expertsalso agree that young audiences should be more accuratelysegmented./.
VNA
