 |
Critical acclaim: A scene from the drama My Nhan va Anh Hung (Beauty and Hero), which won an A prize at the annual Viet Nam Theatrical Artists' Association awards. — VNS File Photo |
HA NOI — Ten plays were given A prizes at the annual awards ceremony of the Viet Nam Theatrical Artists' Association on Wednesday. The performances, which include three dramas, three cai luong (reformed opera) plays, two cheo (traditional opera) plays, a tuong (classical theatre) play and a folk song opera, have been all given gold medals through four national theatre festivals held in the country throughout last year.
At the same ceremony, theatre critic Vu Ngoc Lien was given A prize for his book titled Dao Tan, the founder of tuong theatre.
However, once again for seven successive years, no A prizes were awarded to theatre scripts. Only two B prizes were given to Giai Nhan va Anh Hung (Beauty and Hero) by Chu Thom, and Co Chuan Dien Bien (The Artillery Spotter at Dien Bien Phu Battle) by Le Quy Hien.
The association also gave an award to artists from the Viet Nam Circus Federation for their Du Sieu Nhan (Superman Swings) performance, which won gold a medal at a recent international circus festival in Spain.
"We hope to honour younger playwrights but we have to accept the fact that there have been no young writers to have emerged in the last year," said director Doan Hoang Giang, chairman of Art Council for the Theatrical Awards 2009.
"No writers deserved to be awarded an A prize. But it is not only our theatre, but the whole of our literature and arts that lacks symbolic characters such as Chi Pheo, Thi No or Red-Haired Xuan of literature before the August Revolution in 1945."
Giang admitted that the association had failed to find any scripts worth of being deemed extraordinary among the dozens written last year.
"It's like seeking for a needle in a haystack," he noted. — VNS