The Norwegian writer and dramatist Ibsen was first introduced in Vietnam in the early 1970s with translations of his well-known plays such as A Doll’s House, Brand, Peer Gynt, Ghosts and The Wild Duck.
It was, however, until 2004 the Vietnamese audience had pleasure to enjoy Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” played by the Vietnam Dramatic Theatre in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Norway has announced 206 as the “Ibsen Worldwide Year 2006”, and aiming to popularize Ibsen and his works in Vietnam, the Embassy in Hanoi has collaborated with Vietnamese theatres and cultural institutes to organise an Ibsen Festival in Vietnam.
The Festival includes staging Ibsen’s plays, exhibition, publications on Ibsen and a seminar with representatives from Oslo. A meeting with students will also be organised at National University in Hanoi. The target group is not only to be professional artists, but also the general audience, young writers, stage workers and students.
The Ibsen Festival in Vietnam:
September 5 – Publication of Foreign Literature Review – 200 pages special review on Norwegian literature and Ibsen.
October 28 – Performance of Hedda Gabler – a live show on VTV by Vietnam Dramatic Theatre.
November 8 – 14 – Performance of A Doll’s House by the Youth Theatre.
November 8 – 14 – Exhibition “Ibsen in our time” at the Youth Theatre.
November 14 – 18 – Exhibition “Ibsen in our time” at the National Library.
November (no dates set yet) – Seminar on Ibsen in Hanoi.
November (no dates set yet) – Ibsen and students – a meeting with representatives from Ibsen Centre in Oslo, National University in Hanoi.
December (tentative) – Performance of A Doll’s House and Exhibition on Ibsen in Ho Chi Minh City.
