The experimental theatre movement in the south
The origins of the experimental theatre movement may be traced back to the early 1980s when a group of young southern directors, all students of the afore-mentioned Nguyễn Tường Trân, established the Director's Club (
Câu lạc bộ đạo diễn) with the aim of working together as directors, writers and managers.
The group's core members - Hải Đệ (b 1952), Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc (b 1953), Đăng Nhân (b 1953) and Mai Trần (b 1954) - were subsequently joined by Hoa Hạ (b 1959), Trần Ngọc Giàu (b 1957), Đoàn Khoa (b 1962), Công Ninh (b 1962), Minh Hải (b 1964), Quốc Thảo (b 1963) and Hồng Vân (b 1966). The Club's first venture, the Romanian play Dư luận quần chúng ('Opinion of the Masses'), received more than 400 performances in many different theatres, schools and other venues in towns and provinces in the south.
The Director's Club was subsequently offered a home by the Hồ Chí Minh City Stage Association (
Hội Sân khấu Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh) at 5B Võ Văn Tần Street and in 1984 a 200-seat theatre was opened at this address under the name 5B Võ Văn Tần Experimental Stage Club (
Câu lạc bộ Sân khấu Thể nghiệm 5B Võ Văn Tần, fore-runner of today's
Small Stage Drama Theatre, Nhà hát Kịch Sân khấu Nhỏ). Thereafter the club organised two experimental theatre festivals (1989 and 1993) at which a many new plays were staged, including Ngọc Linh's
Ngôi nhà không có đàn ông ('A House without Men'), directed by Hoa Hạ (b 1959);
Giấc mộng kê vàng ('Life is like a Short Dream'), written and directed by Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngoc;
Diễn kịch một mình ('Performing Plays by Oneself') by Lê Duy Hạnh (b 1947), directed by Hồng Phúc; and
Dạ cổ hoài lang ('She yearns for her Husband upon Hearing the Sound of the Midnight Drum') by Thanh Hoàng (b 1963), directed by Công Ninh.
The mid 1980s also witnessed an ambitious initiative aimed at forging closer links between the play and the audience, dramatising burning issues of the day and at the same time experimenting with new types of production management. This was launched in 1985 by a group of young directors from Hồ Chí Minh City which included Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc, Thanh Bạch (b 1959), Xuân Hương (b 1955), Tất My Loan (b 1961), Bích Thủy (b 1960), Minh Phượng (b 1957) and Quang Minh (b 1954). Subsequently, along with fellow director Đoàn Khoa (b 1962), they established the movement
Tuổi trẻ Cười sống ('Youth Laughing at Life'). Combining writing, directing and stage management, this group produced a number of satirical and thought provoking works which attracted large audiences, including 10,000 people at one particular performance held in Long An Stadium. However, despite being inundated with offers to perform, the group subsequently disbanded on the grounds that they no longer had anything new to say.
By the early 1990s experimental theatre had also begun to take root in the north, but by this time the old subsidy mechanism was giving way to the market economy and the need to attract audiences was fast becoming the paramount consideration for theatre companies throughout the country. For this reason in Hà Nội the experimental theatre movement was stillborn, whilst in the southern capital private mini theatres began to proliferate, their programmes focused increasingly on the presentation of short comedy revues and potboilers with star names.
