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19:30 Uhr
Life in the Backstage
Open studio|Works-in-Progress from Hanoi’s Independent Theater Makers
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Goethe-Institut Hanoi, Hanoi
- Sprache Vietnamesisch
- Preis Kostenlose Anmeldung zur Teilnahme
To celebrate the journey of “New Backstage,” the Goethe-Institut Hanoi and XplusX Studio proudly present a try-out performance featuring short excerpts from experimental plays by Hanoian artists selected from the project. These works offer diverse perspectives on urban life and youth experiences, expressed through a variety of genres—from dance theatre to spoken drama. By focusing on work-in-progress pieces that are still evolving, the performance highlights the raw creative energy and potential of theatre at its early production stages.
Following the performance, audiences are invited to “backstage” for an open discussion with the directors of the four productions that was presented this year: The Pillowman, Why Are We Here, Nguyên (Âm) Đơn, and Passion. This conversation will reveal behind-the-scenes insights and offer a deeper look into the creative processes and challenges of independent theatre-making in Hanoi.
About try-out performance
Work: Diệp in the Role of NhiDescription: Diệp in the Role of Nhi is a stage experiment where costume becomes the starting point of performance.
The piece unfolds as a fashion designer’s introspection — tracing how garments, once created for others, return to shape her own body, gestures, and voice.
Production Team:
- Director: Trần Quỳnh Nhi
- Performer: Tố Diệp
Description: A young man has more than three dates in a single week. He meets them — different women, different versions of love that could have been.
Daffodil begins with seemingly random encounters through a dating app, where the young man tirelessly searches for true love. But he knows he will never find anything. He has never escaped his own preoccupations. If Narcissus was cursed to fall in love with his own reflection and met a tragic end, is this young man also forever trapped at the mirror-like lake?
The play is a kind of response to love in the city: both a self-assigned exercise for young people and a repetitive act to feel a sense of existence. Daffodil presents the relentless search for love as a way to construct identity amid the ambiguity of self-worth.
Production Team:
- Script and Director: Trần Thu Thảo
- Producer: Khánh Như
- Cast: Thu Trà, Hồng Hưng
Description: After a performance, Dương and Di return home in high spirits. They sing, dance, smoke, and chat. However, what seems like a casual evening quickly leads to deep secrets, moments of confrontation, and choices.
Production Team:
- Director: Triều Dương
- Playwright: Triều Dương
- Producer: Nguyễn Minh Khuê
- Art Design: Thùy Linh, Ngạo Thuyên
- Cast: Quân Phạm, Vân Anh
- Acting Advisor: Nguyễn Vũ
- Photography: Việt Quân, Triều Dương
- Project Assistant: Trần Trung Hiếu
About the project “New Backstage”
New Backstage is a theatre initiative curated by XplusX Studio and jointly organized by the Goethe-Institut Hanoi and Manzi Art Space. The project is dedicated to nurturing independent theatrical and performing arts practices in Hanoi.New Backstage offers a comprehensive ecosystem of professional, technical, and educational support for emerging and independent theatre makers seeking to advance their careers. Through activities such as workshops, productions, and public performances, the initiative not only provides critical resources to young artists but also contributes to the diversification and enrichment of Hanoi’s theatre scene.
Künstler*innen
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.
Tran Quynh Nhi (b.2000, Quang Ninh, Vietnam) is a transdisciplinary artist working across fashion, performing art, and photography. Her practice unfolds from the body and personal memory, tracing how technology fragments identity while the body continues to remember its roots. Through her work, she explores questions of self, connection, and transformation — a journal of lived experiences woven through form and presence.
Alongside her artistic practice, Nhi works as a costume designer, collaborating on theater, film, and contemporary dance projects such as The Gem, Nguyen Am Don, Elysium Without Shores, Platten Lotus, LBT_01, A WOMAN, LEGO, Challenge of Realism, and Common Fetish,... She is also the founder of the virtual fashion brand 143dress, and a graduate of the London College for Design & Fashion.
Trần Thu Thảo graduated from the Faculty of Literature. She studied filmmaking at the Center for Assistance and Development of Cinematic Talents (TPD), and has worked as a producer on short film projects and independent theatre productions. Since 2022, Thảo has held the position of Communications Manager at the contemporary art space Heritage Art Space, and has coordinated several programs at the TPD Center.
Triều Dương (real name: Nguyễn Minh Trang, born in 2001) primarily works in the fields of literature and photography in Hanoi. As one of the promising authors of Generation Z, Triều Dương is known for her sharp, fluid, and fantastical writing style in short stories and poetry.
With a foundation in language and a strong aesthetic sensitivity, Triều Dương continues to explore interdisciplinary cultural and artistic projects, aiming to discover new forms and materials for creative expression. Across the Dry River is her first stage presentation, for which she wrote the script and co-directed. Prior to this, Triều Dương was introduced to contemporary theatre through her role as co-translator of the play The Pillowman, directed by Bùi Thạc Phong.
Ort
56-58-60 Nguyen-Thai-Hoc-Str., Ba Dinh
Hanoi
Vietnam