The stage lacks plays that reflect the times?

This touches the concerns of stage artists when they try to keep the stage lit but the artistic quality is declining.

The Vietnam Stage Artists Association awarded 3 B prizes and 6 C prizes (no A prizes) for stage plays in 2023. Of which, 3 B prizes went to "Thunderstorm" (Le Ngoc Stage), "Half of the Mountains and Rivers" (Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong Theater), "My Captain" (Army Cheo Theater).

In fact, the audience for these plays is not large, there are not many performances, some units only give out invitation tickets but cannot sell tickets at all.

There are too many consequences from investing billions in staging plays on stage but only for artists to watch, or more precisely, at festivals and competitions, only the judges watch and give awards, but when brought to serve the public, they all have the same fate: being stored. This waste has led to the consequence that the creative team of the play only aims to satisfy the judges and experts, while the life of the stage and the longevity of the play are not concerned.

A scene from the play "Iron Cage" by Hoang Thai Thanh Theater

The Vietnam Stage Artists Association has 218 members, both professional and amateur writers. However, the number of writers whose scripts are regularly staged in professional art units can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Is it possible that there is still a lack of locality in script selection that causes many writers to not be welcomed by the directors of public theater units?

People's Artist Tran Minh Ngoc said that recently, the team of writers has turned to writing film scripts to make a living, because rarely are their works selected for production. "We need to abandon the mechanism of only accepting scripts from famous writers and instead look for scripts that closely follow current events. Establishing script production teams is very important. Let's sit down, discuss, and find ways to improve the quality to bring to the stage" - People's Artist Tran Minh Ngoc suggested.

In fact, the theater scene in recent years and in the first months of 2023 still lacks scripts on contemporary topics, on hot issues affecting people and society in the integration period. But the stage authors are still being directed by public theater units to safe topics, avoiding, staying outside the vivid reality of fighting corruption, bureaucracy, and the lives of a part of state officials who have deviated and degenerated.

This consequence has caused stage plays to be far from the vibrant daily life, the plays lack combativeness, social criticism or a broader vision towards all-round impact on people, society and renewing value systems.

People's Artist Trinh Thuy Mui, President of the Vietnam Stage Artists Association, said that the association's 2024 action plan is to develop a project to "Order, stage, and promote works on revolutionary themes" for 5 works using the state budget and other funding sources.

The Association will coordinate with the Department of Performing Arts to organize 4 festivals: National Drama and Cai Luong; International Puppetry; National Circus Talent Competition; Coordinate with the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City to organize the Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Stage Talent Competition. Organize a national theater festival on the theme of children scheduled for the second quarter of 2024; The 6th National Capital Theater Festival scheduled for October 2024; The National Ho Chi Minh City Theater Festival scheduled for November 2024... Order authors, organize promotional campaigns, and bring theater works closer to the public nationwide.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/san-khau-thieu-vo-dien-mang-hoi-tho-thoi-dai-196240318210741567.htm