Young directors shine at theatre festival

Younger directors walked away with the honours at the National Professional Theatre Festival awards ceremony at HCM City’s Opera House on Wednesday.
Highlight: In his prize-winning No Than (The Magic Cross-Bow), young director Duc Thinh uses beautiful costumes and spectacular sound and light effects to narrate a story of love and betrayal.
HCM City’s Duc Thinh and Hanh Thuy won the Best Director awards given every five years by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Thinh’s No Than (The Magic Cross-Bow), a story of love and betrayal, was a favourite with both the jury and audiences at the 12-day event.
His Phu Nhuan Drama Stage spent a lot of effort, time, and money to create beautiful costumes and dazzling sound and light effects for the play.
"I spent nearly VND400 million. I believe … the jury and audiences enjoyed watching it today," said Thinh, who began his career as an actor in 1998.
"All my staff hope our new play will signal a new trend in the industry, and that authorities and artists take notice," said the 34-year-old.
No Than
also won the Best Play award.
Thinh’s older colleague, Hanh Thuy, is more into social issues than entertainment. Her work, Dong Nho (Memory), is based on a popular short story written by young author Nguyen Ngoc Tu and appealed to the jury as social plays always do.
It also fetched the Best Artist award for Hong Van.
Also winning the Best Play awards were My Nhan Va Anh Hung (Beautiful Woman and Hero) and Me Va Nguoi Tinh (Mother and Her Boyfriend), respectively by the Viet Nam Theatre and Phu Nhuan Drama Stage.
My Nhan Va Anh Hung
by People’s Artist Le Hung features historical events, a theme that may not have as wide an appeal as the more titillating Me Va Nguoi Tinh, a serious play by comedian and director Minh Nhi.
HCM City-based IDECAF Stage won the prize for "best creative play" for its historical Ngan Nam Tinh Su (A Thousand Years of History and Love).
Directed by Meritorious Artist Thanh Loc, the play is the first musical staged in HCM City and is about the life and work of national hero Ly Thuong Kiet, a general who served under the Ly dynasty in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Loc invited young musician Duc Tri to score the music for his play "because I believe in Tri’s talent".
His choice was vindicated when Tri was named the Best Musician.
The judges said this year they took into consideration both the quality and commercial appeal of the entries.
Doan Hoang Giang, a member of the jury, said: "This year plays by both State-owned and private theatres were serious and dealt with major issues instead of [merely] offering entertainment."
Organisers also gave away more than 42 gold medals to actors in leading and supporting roles.
The festival attracted 26 plays in various categories from 18 State-owned and private theatres around the country.