Theatre 1945-1975
The first national theatre troupe to be founded after the August Revolution was the Gold Star Drama Company (
Đoàn kịch Sao Vàng), which was set up in late 1945 under the auspices of the Hoàng Diệu Youth National Salvation Troupe (
Đoàn Thanh niên Cứu quốc Hoàng Diệu). Three years later the Việt Nam Theatre Company (
Đoàn Sân khấu Việt Nam) was established in the mountainous Việt Bắc Resistance Zone. However, most of its members subsequently volunteered for military service during the final conflict with the French, prompting the establishment in 1950 of a new army troupe which was given the name 'Victory Drama Company' (
Đoàn kịch Chiến thắng) by General Giáp.
In 1957 the Việt Nam Stage Artists’ Association (
Hội Nghệ sĩ Sân khấu Việt Nam), was set up to develop the theatre sector. Thereafter, as the north established close relations with the Soviet Union, 'Socialist Realism' became firmly established as the guiding principle of modern drama. In 1958 members of the newly-established National Drama Company (
Đoàn kịch Trung Ương, 1954), the Southern Region Drama Company (
Đoàn kịch Nam Bộ, 1954) and other state theatre troupes were given basic training in the Stanislavsky method and Russian drama specialists were subsequently brought in to help stage Soviet plays and to develop training curricula in spoken drama for the new Việt Nam School of Stage Arts (
Trường Nghệ thuật Sân khấu Việt Nam, now the
Hà Nội University of Theatre and Cinema), which opened its doors in 1959.
It was at this time too that the first Vietnamese theatre practitioners were sent to Eastern Bloc countries such as Russia, Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria and China to train as theatre directors, reinforcing the relationship with Soviet stagecraft which has remained an important influence on Vietnamese theatre to this day. Hitherto the tradition in Việt Nam had been for playwrights to direct their own work, a role known in the traditional performing arts as
ông nhưn, but with overseas and later domestic training in the years between 1954 and 1975 the art of the stage director began to evolve into a dedicated profession.
The first generation of Vietnamese theatre directors trained overseas included Đình Quang (b 1928, trained in Germany) and Thế Lữ's son Nguyễn Đình Nghi (1928-2001, trained in China), two founding members of the Việt Nam School of Stage Arts who did much to develop appreciation of the crucial role of the stage director in bringing plays to life and realising the goals of the playwright. Other important first-generation directors from the north who trained in the former Soviet Union included Dương Ngọc Đức (b 1930), Dương Viết Bát (1937-1998) and Xuân Đàm (b 1935).
Dramatic works of note written in the north prior to the American War included Chị Hòa ('Miss Hòa') and Một đảng viên ('A Party Member') by Học Phi (b 1915), Chị Nhàn ('Ms Nhàn') and Nổi gió ('The Wind Rises') by Đào Hồng Cẩm (1924-1990), Giáo sư Hoàng ('Professor Hoàng') by Bửu Tiến (1918-1992 ), Nhật ký dịa chất ('Geological Journal') by Thiết Vũ (1927-1999) and Quẫn ('Distress') by Lộng Chương (Phạm Văn Hiền, 1918-2003).
The first National Drama Festival of 1965 showcased an important selection of plays focusing on the final struggle for national reunification. Patriotic works written during the late 1960s and early 1970s included
Cửa hé mở ('Half-open Door') by Lộng Chương,
Đại đội trưởng của tôi ('My Brigade Commander') and
Tổ quốc ('Fatherland') by Đào Hồng Cẩm,
Quê hương Việt Nam ('Việt Nam Homeland') and
Xóm vắng ('Deserted Hamlet') by Xuân Trình (1936-1991),
Lửa hậu phương ('Fire at the Rear') by Kính Dân (1926-2001),
Tiền tuyến gọi ('Front Line Call') by Trần Quán Anh (b 1936),
Nhật ký người mẹ ('Mother's Diary') and
Đôi mắt ('Eyes') by Vũ Dũng Minh (b 1928),
Đêm mưa ('Rainy Night') and
Từ Trường Sơn ('From Trường Sơn') by Tất Đạt (b 1935),
Anh Trỗi ('Brother Trỗi') by Lưu Trọng Lư (1912-1991),
Đôi bạn ('Friends') and
Ngôi sao ban ngày ('Daytime Star') by Thanh Hương (b 1939),
Dựng tượng thôn Nam ('Erecting a Statue in the South Hamlet') by Hoài Giao (b 1931),
Đỉnh cao phía trước ('The Summit is Ahead') by Tào Mạt (Nguyễn Đăng Thục, 1930-1993),
Đồng chí ('Comrade') by Chu Nghi (1930-1968) and
Hoa pháo ('Fireworks') by Trần Vượng (b 1925).
Of particular importance during this period was a series of plays sent from the south by Nguyễn Vũ (Ngô Y Linh, 1929-1978), notably Nửa đất nước trong đêm ('Half the Country is in Darkness'), Đất, Nước, Mùa xuân ('Earth, Water, Springtime'), Đường phố nổi dậy ('The Streets are Rising Up in Rebellion'), Mặt trời, ông già và người lính ('The Sun, the Old Man and the Soldier') and Đâu có giặc là ta cứ đi ('We'll Go Wherever the Invaders Are').
At this time mobile theatre troupes were once more dispatched to the front lines to support the war effort. In 1965-6, for instance, it is reported that the six different troupes of the National Drama Company (Nhà hát kịch Trung Ương) staged 600 performances of 26 plays and four short plays in no fewer than 166 different locations.
After 1954 spoken drama continued to make little impact on southern audiences, whose abiding passion for
cải lương only deepened throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1950s spoken drama was added to the syllabus of the Sài Gòn National School of Music and its name was changed to Sài Gòn National School of Music and Drama, but in the years which followed the market for contemporary theatre remained small and on the eve of Reunification only two companies - the Kim Cương Drama Company (
Đoàn kịch Kim Cương) and the Thẩm Thúy Hằng Drama Company (
Đoàn kịch Thẩm Thúy Hằng) - were attracting a regular following.
Nonetheless the south produced a few noteworthy playwrights during this period, foremost amongst whom was Vũ Khắc Khoan (b 1917) whose plays included Ga xép ('Small Station'), Những người không chịu chết ('Those Who Do Not Accept Death'), Thằng Cuội ('Cuội, the Legendary Liar on the Moon') and Thành Cát Tư Hãn ('Ghengis Khan'). Other popular southern dramatists of the late 1960s and early 1970s included Hoa Lư (Phạm Văn Phúc, b 1931), Ngọc Linh (Dương Đại Tâm, b 1935) and Hoàng Dũng (Kim Cương herself, b 1937), whose best-known works included Lá sầu riêng ('Leaf of the Durian Tree') and Dưới hai màu áo ('Under two Different-coloured Dresses').
