VietNamNet Bridge – English-speakers can now enjoy Vietnamese comedy, in the Youth Theatre’s Perform to the World 2 programme.

Lowbrow: Youth Theatre artists in the physical comedy Old Man Brings His Wife to the Village Festival, in Perform to the World 2.

The programme will include three comedies from the theatre’s Doi Cuoi (Laughing Life) comedy series: Qua Song (Across the River), Choi Tro Dien Ba Dien Ma (Play Like Mum and Dad) and Phong Trut Gian (Angry Room). It will also include three physical performance pieces set to music: La Rung (Falling Leaves), Giac Mo Hanh Phuc (Dream of Happiness) and Ong Gia Cong Vo Di Choi Hoi (Old Man Brings His Wife to the Village Festival).

All the performances are in English.

All the artists and the co-director, People’s Artist Le Hung, rehearsed for six months with teachers from Apollo Education and Training. Experts from the organisation also helped edit the screenplay.

"It is not as simple as just translating dialogues and learning them by heart. The comedies must be restructured to make them easier to understand and suitable for foreigners," said Hung.

"Blending English dialogues and acting is another challenge for the artists, who had only acted in Vietnamese," he said.

According to co-director Nguyen Sy Tien, who has the best English in the company and also acts in the performance, the audience’s reaction to the premiere last Wednesday was surprising.

"The audience, mostly English teachers from the organisation, reacted the same as Vietnamese audiences," Tien said. "This means that they understand the content."

However, Tien said that acting in English was difficult since the artists had to concentrate on pronouncing a foreign language correctly, while remaining totally focused on the performance.

"I was really impressed by the performance," said Claire Fenton, academic manager of Apollo’s centre in Ha Noi’s Le Van Huu street. "The comedies helped me see inside Vietnamese culture. I love the variety of scenes, actors, movement and dance. I laughed and then the next minute I had tears in my eyes."

Fenton said that some actors spoke good English, while the rest still had a thick Vietnamese accent.

"But I know that all of them have worked very hard," she said. "I think the co-ordination between the theatre and our organisation is an excellent idea. Our staff can then help them with pronunciation and stress."

Hung said that the theatre would co-operate with tourism companies to include the show on city tours. The theatre will also offer performances at the theatre once a week starting next month.

He also hopes to stage classical dramas in English to give performances overseas.

In March this year, the theatre introduced Perform to the World 1, which consisted of folk dances and traditional musical instruments, to international audiences as a trial approach to entertaining foreign tourists.

The Perform to the World series is the theatre’s contribution to the Year of Cultural Diplomacy 2009.

(Source: Viet Nam News)