You are here: Vietnam Tour News : Antigone Viet Nam

Antigone Viet Nam

French troupe performs Antigone Viet Nam

On a stage littered with traditional Vietnamese paraphernalia including conical hats, bamboo objects and terra cotta pots, French and Vietnamese actors laugh and cry along with the fate of their characters.

Vietnamese musicians set the scene, with the play revolving around the strength of tuong drums and dan bau monochord.

French and Vietnamese actors speak to each other in their native languages, but somehow spectators from either group manage to follow the play.

The actors are rehearsing Antigone Viet nam a joint production between the French Monte-Charge Theatre and the Viet Nam National Theatre of Tuong.

Following the Cercles de Sable (Sand Circle) show, this is an occasion for Vietnamese tuong (classic drama) to meet European masked theatre once again, in a new project featuring a classic character who has withstood the test of time.

"The second French-Vietnamese show put on by our theatre and the tuong theatre is dedicated to the courage and engagement of Vietnamese women," said Alain Destandau, the French theatre’s director.

"Antigone is a female heroine of Occidental theatrical repertoire by Sophocles. She’s a character who’s both fragile and strong at the same time. She has an unshakeable sense of honour and responsibility which pushes her to sacrifice her life to defend her values."

The name of the play is, in the director’s eyes, the perfect merger. "The rapprochement of our two cultures in the show naturally led me to choosing the title Antigone-Viet Nam," said Destandau.

Pursuing dreams

According to Destandau, the story of Antigone could be a parabolic story of Viet Nam, filled with tragedies and courage towards a final victory.

The scenario, written and staged by Destandau, is about Tiane, a nice simple girl born into a royal family. Whatever happiness she enjoys as a child is stripped from her once the war breaks out. Her father and brothers all die, leading to her uncle appropriating the throne.

Since women were not allowed to bury men at the time, she accepts sacrificing herself to bury her brother. Just as she faces death, doves that she had previously liberated from their cage come back to save her.

"There are many messages that I want to convey to the public. The most important is that I want to call on all men and women to pursue their dreams. Everything you want to do and that you think is right, try your best to achieve it.

"I think it’s also important to convey that women are still submissive to men, in Viet Nam and in so many other countries," the director noted.

"This play will allow us to refine the artistic relationship between the tuong and the masked play – join together our art forms, immerse French actors into the art of tuong and Vietnamese actors into the Occidental art, in order to produce a sharp meeting between the two theatre styles," said Destandau.

The 30 costumes, set to be finished by May 22, are being created by Minh Hanh.

"The costumes will highlight the contrasts between the characters, and between war and peace. The costumes’ colours change with the different scenes," said Hanh.

"At the beginning, the family is happy and prosperous, so the costumes will be bright. After the war breaks out, the family members kill each other, and the ambience gets heavy. The costumes will be in strong solid colours, mainly black…. I want to highlight the mystery of the play," she said.

The six main roles are divided between French and Vietnamese actors. The three French actors are Betina Schneeberger, Richard Cayre and Alain Destandau; and of the three actors of tuong theatre, Loc Huyen will play Antigone.

"Audiences will understand by seeing our gestures and facial expressions the emotions we want to convey. There will be no language barrier in the show," said Destandau.

"Tuong is performed much the same way as European masked theatre. The two forms of theatre are like brothers. Both art forms are expressed through body movement and gestures and facial expressions. Even the costumes are similar," he added.

The show will be ready for the Hue festival in 2008, and will hit theatres in Ha noi and Hcm city before going to the Festival d’Avignon in France in July. — VNS


Tag: , , , , , , , , , , ,
French troupe performs Antigone Viet Nam
*Related News:
Vietnam Week in Japan promotes mutual understanding
Asian Zither Festival attracts audience
Vietnam Week in Japan to be held
Vietnam Week in Japan to be held
Asian Zither Festival finishes in HCM City
Quang Ngai hosts Korea-Vietnam festival
Second Asian Zither Festival kicks off
Asian Zither Festival enlivens HCM City in September
Mekong Delta to become a friendly destination
Phan Thiet set for three-day festival
Vietnam Tour News

 
An old copper bell about 300 years old has been found on the campus of Sung Phuc pagoda in Tu Minh commune, Hai Duong city by the pagoda’s Buddhist monks and nuns.
The Accor hotel group and several French universities have joined the Hanoi National University in offering Masters of Hotel Management courses to aspiring young Vietnamese hoteliers.
Nhan Dan Online- Nineteen events featuring exhibition, stage, contemporary dance, circus, literature, fashion show and concert will take place in the framework of a month-long France Spring Festival from May 20 to June 18.
The Thua Thien-Hue province’s People Committee, with the cooperation of the Hue Festival Centre, opened the Hue Festival Media Centre in Hue city on May 9.
Can tho saw a strong increase in the number of tourists in the first four months of 2008, promising a successful national tourism year for the southern City.
Both veteran and younger actors performed at the Artists’ Pagoda, also known as the Nhat Quang Tu (Sunlight Pagoda), to celebrate the birthday of People’s Artist Phung Ha and wish her a long life.
70 foreign visitors have a talk with 50 orphans and presented gifts to them at the Binh Quoi tourism area in Ho chi minh city
At Thuy Nga restaurant in Hanoi Duc Hanh discovers some wonderful dishes that come straight from the countryside Crack! I jolt at the sound of the terra-cotta splitting wide open. All it took was one quick strike and the pot broke in half. The waiter smiles as he pulls away the It’s definitely a novel way of serving up the rice, though I’m not broken pot. sure my mother would approve .
Hoa Sim 1 and Hoa Sim 2 resorts with the total investment of 5 billion VND have been put into operation in the Mang Den eco-tourism area by the Saigon Mang Den Joint Stock Company.
Da nang (VNA) – The five-star Furama Resort in the central city of Da Nang has been selected by Singapore ’s Agoda, an online tourism magazine, as one of the most beautiful resorts in Southeast Asia .
Thanh Hoa northern province is now striving to build Sam Son town into a developed sea tourism town from now by the year 2010.
More than 100 Asian Buddhist sculptural works from 7th to 19th century are on show at the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts from this afternoon. This is the first time the Buddhist sculptural works of collector Duong Phu Hien have introduced to the public.
The Tourism Administration reports that Vietnam has so far this year welcomed nearly 1.7 million foreign tourists, a year-on-year increase of 16.1 percent.
The Vinh city People’s Committee has carried out a pilot project to launch a cuisine programme on Dao Tan road in Vinh old city.
The central province of Thua Thien-Hue is preparing for the largest ever Buddha Day in Hue city from May 12 to 19.
HA TIEN — Despite having no major natural attractions or even facilities like quality hotels and resorts, Ha Tien Town in the southern province of Kien Giang is an extremely attractive place thanks to its primitive beauty.
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam will attend the 16 th World Congress and Performing Arts Festival for Young People (ASSITEJ 2008) slated for Adelaide , Australia , from May 9-18.
Victoria Phan thiet Beach Resort&Spa are making an efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags and styrofoam containers by delivering all loose goods in rattan or fibre bags.
Travel companies have launched many summer tours to meet the increasing travel demand. At present, many tours are fully reserved from now to July.
On the occasion of the Festival Hue 2008, Saigontourist has launched some tours to famous tourist sites in central provinces so that tourists can attend the event from June 3 to 11.
On the occasion of the traditional custom of Mother's Day, which falls on May 1, children once again have a special day to honor and thank their mothers for their dedication to taking care of the family.
From May 10-15, photographer Nguyen Viet Thanh will introduce his photo exhibition entitled “The Beauty of the Mediterranean” at Ly Thai To park, Hanoi
The fifth provincial popular arts festival was held in northwestern Dien Bien province on May 6 to mark the 54th anniversary of the Dien bien phu victory (May 7). The festival attracted 450 professional and amateur artists from 18 groups from across the province, as well as a large number of visitors from ethnic minority groups.
In a State project on the development of Vietnam tourism in 1995-2010 period, the government has defined Dien Bien north-western mountainous province as one of the national tourism destinations. Many places of interests of cultural and historical values in the provinces should be further exploited for tourism development.
16 standard pigs on February 19 (the thirteenth of the first month of the Lunar New Year) were paraded to La Phu’s communal temple for the worshipping of the tutelary god.
Lack of audience is the biggest problem for most traditional arts like Cheo, Tuong, Cai Luong, but not for puppetry, which in confronted by a lack of manpower.
The Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee has held a conference to review the preparatory work for the Miss Universe Vietnam beauty contest and the final round of the Miss Tourism Vienam 2008 in the central region.
Hanoi (VNA) – The United Nations Day of Vesak will be greated by a grand song and dance performance at the National Convention Centre on May 14.
Pham Hoang Anh Dao discovers the old and new of Cai Rang market, the bustling centre of Mekong Delta trade.
As summer approaches one can feel the calling of the blue-sky sea and the sandy beaches of Vietnam The country has in excess of over 3,000 kilometers of coastlines, providing excellent location for scuba diving and relaxing seaside holidays.
Latest News