NECESSITY IS THE MOON OF WISDOM

Normally, to stage a play at an average level, not too grand but not too sketchy, it costs from 150 to 300 million VND. And plays of the size of Le Van Duyet, the person carrying 9 death sentences , Under the shadow of a beauty must cost around 1 billion VND. With the average level, the producers are already "tired" and struggling, so a larger number is something that needs to be managed. And how to manage so that the quality of the work is still guaranteed?

PHOTO: HK

Director Quoc Thao, the manager of Quoc Thao Theater , confided: "Art has no fixed formula. Of course, having more money is still "easier to breathe". But sometimes investing a lot of money but the work is still bad, and vice versa, investing less money but still good. Therefore, the two words "saving" are always noted, but we have to think more to find solutions, which means we have to be more creative. Firstly, I like to stage in a conventional style rather than realistically, both to save money and to keep the audience curious and thinking. Secondly, I focus on "ideas" and then search for materials that are not too expensive and also protect the environment".

For example, the play Nang chieu with the content of children always consider their parents as their "life buoy", and has a touching line "No matter what the child is like, the parents still throw them a life buoy, sometimes that is their own life", director Quoc Thao bought old discarded tire tubes, brought them back and repainted them to look like life buoys, both beautiful and meaningful; when designed into tables and chairs, sometimes transformed into the moon, train steering wheel, or passing cars... In the play Chong toi , the main character produces bottled water, Quoc Thao used hundreds of plastic water bottles to design tables and chairs, curtains..., when caught by the stage lights, it also looks very sparkling. Or the play Kieu used all cheap chiffon, only over 10,000 VND/m, but hung it up like silk, sometimes it became Vuong Ong's noose, sometimes it became a lantern in a wine house, sometimes it turned into a river when Kieu met Tu Hai... This is a very smart way of handling things. Not to mention, the costumes for the plays are mostly sewn by Quoc Thao and the students themselves. He said: "My mother used to be a tailor. After 1975, when the family was poor, my mother received goods to sew for processing, I also practiced sewing with my mother, and watching my mother cut the clothes became very absorbed. When working on stage, I cut and sewed most of the costumes for the characters myself and instructed the young actors to sew as well. If I sew myself, it will be more to my liking, especially for children's plays, colorful plays, which need a lot of variation." Thanks to that, the cost for each play is significantly reduced.

PHOTO: HK

People's Artist My Uyen also raised the issue of saving when producing. She said: "For example, children's plays may cost more to invest in than adult plays, but the ticket price cannot be too high, so we have to take advantage of many things to reduce costs. The music must of course be newly composed, and the salary cannot be too "cheap". Only the costumes remain, the materials must not be too expensive, or the scenery must be used to cut and reassemble old scenes so that they still look new. In short, we must cut our coat according to our cloth, but try not to be monotonous or dry. Adult plays also choose plays with few scenes, simple materials, focusing on the artists' good acting to still attract the audience."

THE JOINT CONTRIBUTION AND SACRIFICE OF MANY PEOPLE

Solving the problem of low budget, sometimes artists encounter the touching solidarity and sacrifice of friends and colleagues. For example, director Hanh Thuy participated in the 2024 Ho Chi Minh City Drama Festival with the play Nhung canh hoa trinh trang , which won a silver medal and left a deep impression on the audience. Hanh Thuy took on the task of making the play for her students at the Ho Chi Minh City Academy of Theater and Cinema with very little capital. Not to mention, making a play about war is very expensive because there are nearly 50 actors and the scenery is also extremely complicated. So Hanh Thuy began her journey of "begging". Costumes were lent by friends, Trinh Kim Chi and My Uyen minimized the rental price for the stage to practice, young designer Siu Nguyen also agreed to create the entire scenery for only 45 million VND (when the cost should be 80 million VND), and all students participating in the performance did not receive any remuneration.

The play "Dong Nho" that Hanh Thuy had previously staged was as beautiful as a poem. Tran Huu Trang Theater also lent her props for rehearsals. When the official performance was held, a painter sold her the prop boat for only 500,000 VND (if you had bought it new, it would have cost 3-4 million VND). Musician Ho Van Thanh wrote the music for the play and only took 1/3 of the fee. Hanh Thuy was moved and said: "Everyone loves the stage so they join hands. Each work is not just a matter of good or bad, but also carries a lot of affection."