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People's
Artist and stage director Le Hung is Director of the Tuoi Tre (Youth)
Theatre headquartered in
Hanoi. By contemporaries and
enthusiasts of the performing arts he is known as an "old wolf", a
"wizard" and a "fiend" of the Vietnamese contemporary theatre. Besides
directing a series of classical dramas that have stirred up much public
accolades, he has surprised audiences with a series of comedies entitled
"Laughs of Life" which always draw a great number of spectators to his
theatre every night.
Stage
Director Le Hung has a seasoned appearance with an untidy beard and a loud
voice and he certainly speaks his mind. He is known as a type of person
who has a strong character, but always friendly with an unceremonious
manner. When asked if he met any difficulties in working with a series of
"star" actors and actresses, many of whom have been famous nationwide, he
laughed, saying: "Nothing is difficult at all. But I have to find enough
assignments for my actors and actresses to perform every night so that
they can show their talents and at the same time earn enough money to make
a living.” That seems to be a simple job, but in fact it requires much
effort from Le Hung.
Born into a family of artists and growing up to be an acknowledged
actor of the Youth Theatre after having graduated from the
Theatre
Arts
School
(present-day Hanoi Academy of
Theatre and Cinema) in 1971, Le Hung accumulated experience for his acting
career. However, he spent another seven years in
Russia
where he took a course
for stage directors at the famous Moscow Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS)
and graduated in 1989. Due to this background, there are always two trends
of thoughts in him, i.e. a traditional and a modern theatre, which are
connected to each other and help in forming his personal style of
directing.
The
audience sees Le Hung as a strong and "conservative" director. He pays
less attention to the words in the script than to the main message that he
would like to send to the spectators. He often changes the original script
of a play to add some conventional details of the traditional theatre. For
example, in "Macbeth", People's Artist Lan Huong impressed the spectators
with her marvellous solo dance to interpret Queen Macbeth's feelings
before her suicide. In "Han Mac Tu’s Last 100 Minutes", the romantic scene
of the leprotic couple’s wedding night is highlighted with the wedding bed
being made conventionally as a carpet of yellow chrysanthemums on the
stage floor. In "Karma", there are some romantically explicit scenes that
are tactfully performed under Le Hung’s direction. All these performances
are wonderfully directed by Le Hung and with his "wizard" talent, things
that seem to be impossible have become possible.
The Ha Long Carnival 2009 was directed
by Le Hung.
Le Hung is like a
multi-functional "knife", effectively using his razor shape wit in
executing his profession. Each genre he ventures into produces successful
results, from Vietnamese classical opera, traditional opera and reformed
opera, to the world classic dramas, such as "The Doll’s House" by H.
Ibsen, "Love and Scheme" by Schiller and "Macbeth" by Shakespeare. In
particular, the "Laughs of Life" - a series of comedies – appeared as a
great phenomenon in Vietnamese contemporary theatre and became an
exclusive "trademark" of the Youth Theatre.
The classic dramas directed by Le Hung not only impress domestic
spectators, but also attract the attention of world renowned theatre
artists. With "Macbeth" he was invited to participate in the World Theatre
Festival 2003 held in Beijing and the
International Theatre Festival 2005 held in Shanghai.
Discussing
comedies and tragedies Le Hung has an interesting definition: "On the
stage, when a tragedy is pushed to its peak it will become a comedy." From
this point of view, the comedies by Le Hung always hide tragic details
that make the spectators laugh, then weep. This is visible in his comedies
"Horse-man, Man-horse", "Talkative Disease" and in particular the "Laughs
of Life". To Le Hung, "it’s difficult for a stage director to make the
spectators cry, and it's even more difficult to make them laugh, in its
real meaning."
It can be
said that Le Hung’s directing style is much influenced by Charles
Chaplin’s comic style, i.e. to compile comedies on the foundation of
tragedies with social issues of hot concerns. Due to his unique personal
style, a series of eight "Laughs of Life" plays by Le Hung have been
warmly received by spectators. It’s obvious that when talking about
"Laughs of Life", the audience often thinks of director Le Hung, and vice
versa.
Le Hung’s
life and career have been closely attached to the development of the Youth
Theatre. With his management, the Theatre has built up a contingent of
talented actors and actresses who are devoted to the performing
profession, such as People’s Artists Le Khanh and Lan Huong, Meritorious
Artist Chi Trung and others. More significantly, in the current time of
the market economy when there are so many and diverse modern forms of
entertainment, the Youth Theatre is still lit up with lamps every night,
attracting many spectators to its performances.
Due to its
acknowledged achievements, the Youth Theatre was entrusted by the State to
establish a project on staging 100 classic dramas of the world to serve
Vietnamese theatre lovers. It’s obvious that Director Le Hung will greatly
contribute to the fulfillment of this task. Stage lovers believe this
"wizard of the theatre" can do that, because he is not only an actor who
knows how to laugh and cry in each of his dramas, but also a stage
director who knows how to make his audience laugh and cry with his
works.
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People’s Artist and Stage Director Le Hung, Director of
the Youth Theatre (May 2009).
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People’s Artist Le Hung was born in 1952, in
Nghia Thai Commune, Nghia Hung District, Nam Dinh Province. He has
been awarded many prizes at the national theatre festivals,
including "The Best Director" in 1990 for "What else?" (performed by
Hai Phong Drama Troupe); in 1995 for "A Man Who Can Not Die"
(performed by Quang Ninh Drama Troupe); in 2000 for "Chi Pheo"
(performed by Thai Binh Drama Troupe); and in 2004 for "A Message
from
Dien Bien Phu" (performed by the Army Drama
Troupe), among others.
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Story by Thanh Hoa
- Photos by Quang Ha –
File
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