The Youth Theatre is about to perform its first comedy in English. The theatre’s manager Nguyen Si Tien talks about the issue.

Si Tien (white) watches actors practicing with an Apollo teacher and his co-worker.

Why did the theatre decide to arrange comic plays in English?

Our theatre’s most popular and successful product is the comedic series “Doi Cuoi” (The Comedy of Life). We thought that as the series is very attractive to Vietnamese audiences, so why shouldn’t we translate them into English to serve foreigners?

There are many foreign tourists and foreigners working and live here. Besides water puppetry and traditional music, we hope that “Doi Cuoi” will be a new, interesting gift for foreigners.

Do you think that this is an attractive gift, when Vietnamese actors have to play in a foreign language?

It is very difficult for us but it doesn’t mean that we cannot do it. At the beginning, we only hope to tell a comedy about Vietnam to foreigners. This is a challenge and a way to refresh ourselves.

What can the theatre do to deal with the barrier of language and culture to bring a Vietnamese comedy to foreigners?

When we perform for Vietnamese audiences, only differences in culture between regions in Vietnam can make them laugh. In English, how do we make foreigners laugh? It is extremely difficult.

We cooperated with the Apollo English training centre to translate the plays and teach our actors English.

We also asked for help from other agencies because our plays will serve not only English-native speakers but audiences from many countries so the plays must be understandable to Chinese, Japanese, and others who know English. This is a really hard job.

How about actors?

We have quite young actors. I’m the eldest, 41. Those who play in the English versions are familiar faces like Nguyet Hang, Huy Phuong, Thanh Hoa, Tu Oanh, Quynh Duong and Ba Anh.

All of them are very interested in this project because this is a rare opportunity for them to experience and to learn another language. It is good for them if a foreign film company comes to Vietnam to cast actors.

Is it true that Vietnamese audiences are no longer interested in the Youth Theatre’s works so this is the reason you are targeting foreigners?

No, not at all. Foreign audiences have been neglected for a long time. I know that many foreigners go to Hong Kong or Thailand during their weekends. Hanoi is very beautiful now, why we don’t offer them new “cuisines”?

How has the project gone?

We have practiced for nearly two months. We plan to perform a test show this June. We are working on three short plays, entitled “The Room for Taking Spite Out”, “Cross the River” and “Play the Game of Mother and Father”.

VietNamNet/TP