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| Artist Nguyễn Thành Chánh Trực |
The Hồ Chí Minh City Theatre Association attended in the 43rd Busan Theatre Festival last month in South Korea. Vietnamese artists presented the Đồng Chí (Comrade) play, April 5 and 6, at the Haneul Theatre in the city.
The Vietnamese play was the first overseas production to be performed in the festival’s history, with actor Nguyễn Thành Chánh Trực in the leading role.
He spoke about his experiences at the Korean festival and his thoughts about Vietnamese theatre.
What impressed you at the festival?
First of all, I was strongly impressed by the way the festival organisers created something for young people. This festival was aimed at young professionals, encouraging them to demonstrate their abilities and stage-making mindset.
Young people were key at all the festival’s events. The range was impressive, with some plays having very few actors, even just two, but every performance involved very young people, some even without microphones but all were performed well.
Plus, mostly the plays I saw were only about 60-75 minutes long, in a small auditorium, with just over 100 seats. They were not grandiose shows, but they showed off the refined performance of the artists, which is important.
I saw many similarities between Korean and Vietnamese theatre. What was different was their discipline in terms of work and good organisation.
Once entering the auditorium, it was completely silent, no whispers, no light from phone screens. The audience was completely focused on laughing and crying with the work. It felt like when sitting in the auditorium, I was also a character, completely ‘immersed’ in that space. There, I felt that the theatre is really a sanctuary.
What is this ‘theatre sanctuary’ in your opinion?
For a long time, we have been thinking that theatre is grandiose place with sparkling and splendid things. We forget that theatre is a place where artists and the audience meet and share their feelings and emotions through a play.
It is simple, but to create a play which captivates an audience is not easy. First of all, the artists must be talented to convince the audience that the play is good. No matter how big or small the stage is, when the curtain rises, the actors and the audience become one, which shows harmony and respect for each other.
The scientific and disciplined nature of artists’ work is something we can do right away. We cannot influence the policies, nor can we innovate the facilities or stage technology, but we can absolutely change our own habits.
For example, the artist needs to be more strict with himself or herself. I think that a theatre production must be made in a scientific way.
In Vietnamese theatres, sometimes the production team still have to wait for the artists. As a director, I see that sometimes directors want their actors to practise more, but they don’t because they are too tired or they are no longer interested. Therefore, some directors just finish their work without creativity.
If this situation continues, I think it is not good.
Could you tell more about the play?
Đồng Chí was performed by People’s Artist Mỹ Uyên, Quốc Thịnh, Minh Quốc, me and several others. It revolves around the soldiers of Việt Nam, spanning from wartime to peacetime.
In the past, during the struggle for national independence and freedom, young men joining the army fought together in the same unit, sharing a common goal and an unwavering desire for peace and prosperity for their people.
Even after the war ended, these comrades remained closely bonded. Whenever possible, they would reunite to reminisce about their experiences and memories of a devastating, but heroic, time.
The play, written by Lê Thu Hạnh and directed by People’s Artist Trần Ngọc Giàu and director Quốc Thịnh at the first HCM City Theatre Festival 2024, honours the spirit of solidarity and military brotherhood and portrays an image of Hồ Chí Minh’s soldiers with virtuous qualities including integrity, uprightness and steadfastness.
The play, which won the Hồ Chí Minh City Theatre Association Play Contest, explores the camaraderie among fallen soldiers on the battlefield.
How was the play received at the festival?
With the theme of ‘Busan, a city where young people can create theatre and a city where citizens can enjoy theatre’, the festival featured a total of 24 performances and 14 sideline events at several venues throughout the city.
The festival is one of the largest theatre festivals in Korea and the Vietnamese play had Korean extras in soldier roles.
I was joyful because the play was well received by the audience, including the professionals, so it was good to get attention from Korean colleagues.
Our theatres have been struggling to attract audiences. How about Korean theatre?
The festival is one of the events held to stir up the theatre scene, because they are also facing the same situation with declining audience numbers.
But they have strong support from the government and social resources through the cultural investment fund.
Additionally, the Korean theatres all make their own efforts finding a suitable operating model with their own criteria and performance style. Their stages are unique, focusing on keeping their audience.
Along with that, they do what movies cannot do, the actors and the audience have interaction. There the distance between the two sides is close, with the audience truly immersed in the play, experiencing and handling situations with the actors.
What is your plan for the future?
I nurture my dream to have my own stage, with only about 100-120 seats, maybe even fewer than 100. There, I can be creative, experimental and do everything to pursue the genre and theme I love.
When I see different models of Korean stages, I think that my dream is not far away.
However, currently I can only pursue what I want through each project. I want to make a psychological play with a few artists focusing on acting only. — VNS
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