Fifth international experimental theatre festival: dialogue between Asian-European performing arts

Hanoi (VNA) - The fifth international experimental theatre festival will take place in Hanoi capital and the northern port city of Hai Phong from November 15 – 26 with the participation of 15 domestic and six foreign troupes.

The 15 domestic troupes include the Hanoi Drama Theatre, the Vietnam National Puppetry Theatre, and the Vietnam Circus Federation, Hai Phong puppetry troupe, the Vietnam Cai luong Theatre, the Vietnam Circus Federation, the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Stage Art, the Hai Phong Stage Artists’ Association, among others.

The information was released at a press conference on November 8 by People’s Artist Trinh Thuy Mui, President of the Vietnam Stage Artists’ Association and head of the festival’s steering committee. 

The six foreign art troupes are Tom Corradini Teatro from Italy, Yvua Arts from the Republic of Korea, Patch Theater-Teatr Lata from Poland, Singapore Raffles Music College from Singapore, Mass Foundation from Pakistan, and Dhyaas Performing Arts from India. Each of them is expected to bring a play to the festival.

According to the President of the Vietnam Stage Artists’ Association, those countries have developed theatre arts with unique and creative experiments with performing arts.

The difference between experimental theatre and normal theatre is that in experimental theatrical works, artists are free to experiment with new things from the form of stage to plays’ content. The experimental factor will be the key to assess theatrical works in the festival, Mui said.   

 

The festival this time will bring together various kinds of theatrical arts such as drama, Cai luong (reformed opera), and puppetry. Some domestic art troupes have made some remarkable experiments, like combining the traditional Cai luong and circus, which is expected to bring surprise and strong feelings to not only spectators but also foreign artists, according to Mui. The Thuong Thien Thanh Mau (Mother Goddess of Heaven) play is an example, which combines the traditional art of Cai luong (reformed opera) with modern circus techniques. It is staged by the Vietnam Cai luong Theatre in collaboration with the Vietnam Circus Federation.

She affirmed that the festival would provide a prime opportunity for artists to hold exchanges and learn from each other, thereby introducing the diversity and richness of both Vietnamese and international theatrical art to local audiences.  

The festival is one of the most important activities of the Vietnam Stage Artists’ Association in 2022, aiming to improve the artistic quality and encourage innovation of the country’s theatrical arts.

The event is an important activity in the context that the world stage and other art industries are recovering after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. It creates an opportunity for Vietnamese theatre artists to exchange experience and learn from their foreign peers, she said.

Most plays brought to the festival this year by domestic art troupes are newly staged.

Meanwhile, foreign troupes will bring outstanding works with deep imprints of their respective national cultures and theatrical arts.

The opening ceremony of the festival will take place at the Tuoi Tre Theatre and the closing at Dai Nam Theatre, both in Hanoi. Works participating in the festival will be performed at the Cong Nhan Theatre in Hanoi and the Quan Doi and Thang Tam Theatres in Hai Phong.

Co-organised by the Vietnam Stage Artists' Association and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Performing Arts Department, the first, second, third, and fourth editions of the festival were held in Vietnam in 2002, 2006, 2016, and 2019, respectively.

At the last edition, 21 plays were staged by 14 troupes from host Vietnam and seven others from Hungary, Israel, India, the Republic of Korea, China, Singapore, and Greece. Four plays from Vietnam and Israel won the gold medals./.