The Vietnam Youth Theatre has been invited for the first time to attendthe annual World Shakespeare Festival in Liverpool in June – a mark ofVietnamese theatre's growing profile internationally.
Actors will stage the macabre Shakespearean play Macbeth in Vietnamese.
The theatre performed at festivals in Beijing in 2003 and Shanghai in 2005.
The Youth Theatre production was based on the play staged by veterandirector Le Hung in 2002, which has been performed 68 times, said TruongNhuan, the theatre's deputy director, adding that it wasenthusiastically received in China particularly because of the Asiantheatrical motifs used in the scene depicting the death of Macbeth'swife.
Youth Theatre actors have been given lectures inWestern literature by theatre critic Nguyen Thi Minh Thai ahead of theirgoing to London .
"The play is very Vietnamese incharacter because director Hung used dances from Vietnamese tuong(classical opera)," Nhuan said.
Lady Macbeth died in a"blood" fillet, without a word being uttered. Yet the scene would bewell-understood by theatre-goers because the play was widely known,Nhuan added.
Anh Tu, who plays Macbeth, said: "I'm veryenthusiastic about playing Macbeth. I have performed in many classicalplays from around the world and am not short on experience. I amdelighted to have been given the chance to play this part."
In the early 1990s, a work by Vietnamese playwright Luu Quang Vuentitled Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit (Truong Ba's Soul in Butcher's Body)debuted at the Moscow International Theatre Festival.
The play was later staged in the US .
Nguyen Van Tinh, head of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism'sForeign Co-operation Department, said language was no barrier when itcame to theatre. "The success of the tour of 20 colleges in the US ofTruong Ba's Soul in Butcher's Body, with English subtitles, proves thatlanguage is no barrier," he said.
"If we want Vietnamesedrama to be known to the world, we should choose scenarios which meetaudiences' tastes, even if we have to make changes to the script."
The first Western-style drama to be performed in Vietnam was NguoiBenh Tuong (Valetudinarian) by French playwright Moliere.
In 1921, Vietnam staged its first modern drama Chen Thuoc Doc (A Cupof Poison) by Vu Dinh Long, which was a dramatic departure fromtraditional Vietnamese theatre.
Theatre critic Thai said Western productions could easily be adapted for the Vietnamese stage.
"Many theatre productions by Henrik Ibsen and Shakespeare have beenperformed in Vietnam . I think Vietnamese actors should tell Westernstories their own way," she said.
The Youth and Vietnam Drama theatres, in co-operation with foreign directors, have staged two productions in Vietnam .
One was funded by the US Department of State's Cultural Envoys Programme and was directed by the US 's Neil S Fleckman.
The other was funded by the French culture institute L'Espace and the Viet Nam Drama Theatre.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnamand France , the drama Andromake, written by Jon Fosse, an adaptationof Racine 's L'Andromaque, was staged last December by directorJean-Marie Lejude from the L'oeil du Tigre troupe.
In thisversion, four French and four Vietnamese actors spoke to each other intheir native languages. There were Vietnamese subtitles.
"We decided to combine actors from the two countries. Although theyspoke in their respective languages, the common theme was the languageof artistry," said Lejude. "It was amazing to put on a drama with bothVietnamese and French actors."
Ngan Hoa, who was one of the four Vietnamese actors in the play, said the experience was thrilling.
"We had to feel how the foreign partners felt. The most important thingwas to feel the pulse of our partners. Language was not problem," Hoasaid.
Meanwhile, Fleckman was full of praise for Vietnamese acting.
"The Vietnamese actors were very bright. The only occasional issuesinvolved semantics. The vast majority of the time, the actors and Iunderstood each other perfectly./.
Actors will stage the macabre Shakespearean play Macbeth in Vietnamese.
The theatre performed at festivals in Beijing in 2003 and Shanghai in 2005.
The Youth Theatre production was based on the play staged by veterandirector Le Hung in 2002, which has been performed 68 times, said TruongNhuan, the theatre's deputy director, adding that it wasenthusiastically received in China particularly because of the Asiantheatrical motifs used in the scene depicting the death of Macbeth'swife.
Youth Theatre actors have been given lectures inWestern literature by theatre critic Nguyen Thi Minh Thai ahead of theirgoing to London .
"The play is very Vietnamese incharacter because director Hung used dances from Vietnamese tuong(classical opera)," Nhuan said.
Lady Macbeth died in a"blood" fillet, without a word being uttered. Yet the scene would bewell-understood by theatre-goers because the play was widely known,Nhuan added.
Anh Tu, who plays Macbeth, said: "I'm veryenthusiastic about playing Macbeth. I have performed in many classicalplays from around the world and am not short on experience. I amdelighted to have been given the chance to play this part."
In the early 1990s, a work by Vietnamese playwright Luu Quang Vuentitled Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit (Truong Ba's Soul in Butcher's Body)debuted at the Moscow International Theatre Festival.
The play was later staged in the US .
Nguyen Van Tinh, head of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism'sForeign Co-operation Department, said language was no barrier when itcame to theatre. "The success of the tour of 20 colleges in the US ofTruong Ba's Soul in Butcher's Body, with English subtitles, proves thatlanguage is no barrier," he said.
"If we want Vietnamesedrama to be known to the world, we should choose scenarios which meetaudiences' tastes, even if we have to make changes to the script."
The first Western-style drama to be performed in Vietnam was NguoiBenh Tuong (Valetudinarian) by French playwright Moliere.
In 1921, Vietnam staged its first modern drama Chen Thuoc Doc (A Cupof Poison) by Vu Dinh Long, which was a dramatic departure fromtraditional Vietnamese theatre.
Theatre critic Thai said Western productions could easily be adapted for the Vietnamese stage.
"Many theatre productions by Henrik Ibsen and Shakespeare have beenperformed in Vietnam . I think Vietnamese actors should tell Westernstories their own way," she said.
The Youth and Vietnam Drama theatres, in co-operation with foreign directors, have staged two productions in Vietnam .
One was funded by the US Department of State's Cultural Envoys Programme and was directed by the US 's Neil S Fleckman.
The other was funded by the French culture institute L'Espace and the Viet Nam Drama Theatre.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnamand France , the drama Andromake, written by Jon Fosse, an adaptationof Racine 's L'Andromaque, was staged last December by directorJean-Marie Lejude from the L'oeil du Tigre troupe.
In thisversion, four French and four Vietnamese actors spoke to each other intheir native languages. There were Vietnamese subtitles.
"We decided to combine actors from the two countries. Although theyspoke in their respective languages, the common theme was the languageof artistry," said Lejude. "It was amazing to put on a drama with bothVietnamese and French actors."
Ngan Hoa, who was one of the four Vietnamese actors in the play, said the experience was thrilling.
"We had to feel how the foreign partners felt. The most important thingwas to feel the pulse of our partners. Language was not problem," Hoasaid.
Meanwhile, Fleckman was full of praise for Vietnamese acting.
"The Vietnamese actors were very bright. The only occasional issuesinvolved semantics. The vast majority of the time, the actors and Iunderstood each other perfectly./.
