Performance “Shadow of the Puppets”
08 pm, Sun 17 Mar 2024
Vietnam National Dramatic Theatre
No. 1 Tràng Tiền, Phan Chu Trinh, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội
From the organizer:
The play Shadow of the Puppets is a profound meditation on family pain, same-sex love and the struggle to live as one’s true self. In each of us, there are always hidden corners, deep secrets that we always keep hidden. The tragic story of an unhappy family opens up human problems throughout society…
The performance uses puppets and puppetry, including the beautiful art of ‘shadow puppetry’. Puppets and people have blended together on stage, being the character’s body and soul, the light and dark sides, the pain and joy being released.
The performance is full of novelty in its expression. From the content to the staging, ‘Shadow of the Puppets’ has a contemporary breath, breaking all traditional theatre rules. For nearly 120 minutes, the performance leads viewers through life’s stages, back to the past, to illuminate the present through beautiful visual displays and physical dances that are sometimes lyrical and profound, sometimes turbulent and explosive. According to psychological changes and knots, the dramatic conflict is pushed to a climax and resolved, where problems are challenging to describe and reveal through dialogue.
“Living true to yourself” – the message of the play “Shadow of the Puppets” not only explores the story of a community and gender issues in modern society but also addresses human issues, carrying great humanistic value.
Author: Vu Hoang Hoa, currently lives in Sydney and is the author and art critic. The play Shadow of the Puppets is on the nomination list for the 2023 Patrick White Award for scripts, organized annually by Sydney Theatre (Australia).
Director: Meritorious Artist Ta Tuan Minh (Vietnam National Dramatic Theatre) won the 2020 Theatre Festival Outstanding Director Award for the play ‘The Good Man of House No. 5’.
Choreographer: Nguyen Duy Thanh
Musician: Nguyen Quoc Hoang Anh (experimental sound, founder and artistic director of Len Ngan)
Stage Designer: Ha Nguyen Long (Director of XPlusX Studio)
Puppet Director : Le Chi Kien
Puppet Designer: Nguyen Xuan Long (Thang Long Puppet Theater)
Artistic Director: Nguyen Xuan Bac, Director of the Vietnam National Dramatic Theatre
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