Shakespeare’s Hamlet on Vietnamese stage

Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, has been performed countless times in the past four centuries. The tragedy, a journey to find the truth to protect people’s life and dignity retains its relevance today.

The play marks the return of the Vietnam Drama Theatre, a leading theatre in Vietnam that performs the world's masterpieces. Hamlet is the first of several classics that will be performed by the Vietnam Drama Theatre this season.

Nguyen Thi Cuc, an audience for one of this month’s performances, said “I’ve seen Hamlet several times, once in Russia. This is a classic play that embraces political meaning and philosophy of life. Artists of the Vietnam Drama Theater successfully performed it. It was a Vietnamese Hamlet in a contemporary style”.

The Vietnamese version of Hamlet incorporates Vietnamese people’s thoughts and styles in the 21st century. The play exposes a dark corner in each person and reveals their courage to fight evil.

Ta Minh, who performed the role of Hamlet, said the role was a great challenge. Hamlet, he said, is an enigma that inspires many artists.

“Hamlet is close to the Vietnamese people because of cultural similarities. Asian people take sentiment, family relationships, and love very seriously. The Vietnamese version of Hamlet brings Shakespeare closer to the Vietnamese audience,” said Minh.

Director Anh Tu delivers the complexity and contradictions of the play from a Vietnamese perspective to reflect people’s thoughts and styles in the 21st century. The play tells a story about good people, who are get lost but then find their way to the truth, and stand up to fight for truth and happiness.

Le Quy Hien, a playwright said “The director doesn’t Vietnamise the play, but uses Vietnamese soul and thoughts to dramatize Shakespeare’s play. As a result, the Vietnamese version of the play is closer to the Vietnamese audience”.

Anh Tu included the traditional xuan pha dance of Thanh Hoa province in his production making it livelier, more interesting and more Vietnamese.

Critic Pham Van Phuc said “Hamlet marks a new era for the Vietnam Drama Theater and has inspired a large Vietnamese audience. Shakespeare’s play was shortened from 170 pages and 21 characters to a 2-hour production. The audience was impressed by the creativity of the director and artists”.