Thai Hoa (L) in a scene from the popular thriller play Qua tim mau (The bloody heart) which he also directs

Funny man Thai Hoa always dreamed of being a theater director but says audiences are going to take a while to get used to him not doing comedy.

“I just tried my hand at directing and of course I wanted to do what I’m good at first. In fact I want to do all kinds of drama, and everything lies ahead.”

Hoa’s thriller plays Nguoi vo ma and Qua tim mau are smash hits.

Hoa’s outstanding directing, lighting, sound effects and stage design put packed out theaters into a stifling, highly charged mood. His plays, which usually have a gripping climax, skillfully capture the protagonist’s personality.

The 34-year-old is interested in making both art house and commercial plays and is highly regarded by Meritorious Artist Hong Van the director of the Phu Nhuan Theater where his plays are staged.

Nguoi vo ma (The ghost wife) tells of a woman who commits suicide after her husband finds out about her secret past. The husband marries again but isn’t happy. Whenever he is away, the late wife’s ghost comes back to haunt the house and claims their daughter, which deeply distresses the girl.

The husband later finds out that it is his selfish second wife who is behind the ghostly scenes to make him forget his former wife. He then pretends to be a ghost and petrifies her - after which she goes insane.

The play, which premiered in 2006, has been performed nearly 500 times.

Qua tim mau (The bloody heart), which Hoa also wrote, begins when a couple, Son and his wife Hang, an acute heart patient, go to the mountains to visit the family of Phuong, who recently died in a road accident and whose heart Hang is about to receive in a transplant operation.

During the trip, Hang inexplicably has uncanny premonitions and reminiscences about the dead girl come flooding back.

Son, who caused the hit-and-run accident that killed Phuong and robbed Phuong’s money to pay for Hang’s heart transplant, suffers horrible recurring nightmares. Hang devises ghostly scenes to find out the truth her husband is hiding from her.

The play, which debuted this year, is booked out a month in advance.

Hoa played comic relief in both of his hit plays.

“I want audiences to relax between nerve-racking scenes.”

“There are no ghosts, the characters are just haunted by guilt. My plays are not meant to scare audiences but rather convey a message that we will suffer tragically if we have committed sin,” said Hoa, who added he has been scared of ghosts since he was a child.

Hoa has acted in many comedies as well as several tragedies such as Bi vo and San ga tinh nguoi (The platform of human bonds).

According to him, playing a comic role is more difficult than a tragic one.

“If actors can’t move audiences to tears, they can still create a sad atmosphere. But it is a really awkward situation when comedians can’t make their audience laugh,” he explained.

“But it will take sometime for audiences to get used to me in a tragic role,” he added.

Hoa’s reputation in theater started when he formed a comedy group called Canh buom do (The red sail) with now actor and director Duc Thinh and won the top prize at the 1998 Ho Chi Minh City Comedy Festival with the short play Phong tro ba nguoi (The rented room with three people) before they graduated.

After their success Hoa and Thinh performed short comedies which were carefully directed and designed.

Despite his success as a comedian, Hoa found director work with Meritorious Artist Hong Van’s Phu Nhuan Theater when it opened.

He said he would train to become a moviemaker this year as the movie industry and television has more opportunities than theater.

Reported by Hoang Kim