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Vietnam

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9:30–17:00 Uhr

From Page to Stage: A Playwriting Workshop

Workshop|A practical journey into contemporary playwriting.

  • Goethe-Institut Hanoi, Hanoi

  • Vietnamesisch mit englischen Untertiteln
  • Freier Eintritt

HAN 20250920 Workshop 1500 © Goethe-Institut Hanoi

HAN 20250920 Workshop 7360 © Goethe-Institut Hanoi

The script is one of the most fundamental elements of a great play. In the context of contemporary theatrical practice, a good script is no longer synonymous with just a surprising and dramatic story. Before the story reaches the audience, the script serves as the origin, the inspiration, and the guide for all members of the production—from the director, set designer, and costume and lighting designers to the actors—to build upon and create. Therefore, writing a script is not merely a technical task of storytelling, but a combination of language and theatrical knowledge from diverse dimensions and perspectives.

The workshop " From Page to Stage: A Playwriting Workshop ", led by Thomas Köck, one of the most successful and influential contemporary German playwrights today, will explore methods for developing scripts with depth. This includes finding and developing ideas, addressing technical considerations, and key aspects to keep in mind when conceptualizing a script. Participants will engage in writing exercises during the workshop and receive direct feedback to refine a scene of their own.
The workshop " From Page to Stage: A Playwriting Workshop " is an initiative by the Goethe-Institut Hanoi and is part of the Tan Hau Truong (New Backstage) project. This project supports and develops theatrical and performing arts activities in Hanoi. It was initiated by XplusX Studio, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Hanoi and Manzi Art Space.
The project builds an ecosystem comprising workshops and production activities. It aims to assist individuals and groups in Vietnam's independent theatre scene to refine and develop their craft through the production and public performance of their works.

To register for participation, please send a WORD file of a sample article in any genre (maximum 1000 words, your own work), along with a short personal introduction (maximum 100 words), during the period from September 15, 2025 to September 18, 2025 via email to DucMinh.Pham@goethe.de, with the subject line: Registration for workshop with Thomas Köck.
 

Instructor

Thomas Köck

Playwright

Thomas Köck, born in 1986 in Steyr, Upper Austria, is one of the most influential contemporary theater artists; his texts are widely performed in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Europe and internationally. He works as a musician, director, writer, teaches in various schools and has created his own productions, musical formats, screenplays, radio plays, and AI-based performances in changing, collective contexts for theaters, museums, TV-stations, festivals and concert halls. In 2018 and 2019, he received the Mülheim Dramatic Prize twice in a row. In 2024, he was nominated for the Mülheim Dramatic Prize for forecast: ödipus. The film UN GRAN CASINO, for which Thomas Köck wrote the original script, was nominated for the CineRebels Award at the Munich Film Festival in 2025. In 2024, his book Chronik der laufenden Entgleisungen (Chronicle of Ongoing Derailments) was published by Suhrkamp Verlag and reached number 1 on the ORF Best of List. For the AI-integrated Virtual Reality Play „opera, opera, opera“ the team received the FAUST Price. Among numerous other Awards he holds the Kleist-Förderpreis, the Literaturpreis Text & Sprache der deutschen Wirtschaft or the Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden for his radio and audio work. He works with excessive research processes, that led him to Central America, Eastern Turkey, Italy, former Yugoslavia and often works with choirs and integrates Music or new technolgies.

Coordinator

Nguyen Long Ha

Ha Nguyen Long is a stage director and spatial designer, and the Artistic Director of XPLUSX STUDIO in Paris, France, and Hanoi, Vietnam. His practice focuses on staging Vietnamese and world classics through contemporary adaptations, alongside developing playwriting through non-individual scriptwriting methods based on community dialogue and improvisation with performers.