Can a people be understood through its theatre?

Perhaps.

Because theatre does not simply tell stories. It also reveals how a people views human beings, the family, justice, power and love, as well as the values, ideals and forms of beauty it holds dear. In every character, every line, every melody or every scene, traces of history, culture and the way a community relates to life and the society around it come to the surface.

What makes Vietnamese theatre distinctive is that it did not develop as a single tradition. Each region contributed its own voice. Chèo is deeply rooted in the cultural world of the Red River Delta. Tuồng flourished both on royal court stages and in the popular traditions of Central Vietnam. Cải lương was born in the South, where tradition met modernity. Spoken drama absorbed influences from Western theatre before quickly finding its own voice to portray Vietnamese society.

For one week in France, all these forms meet. Through plays to understand people, characters to glimpse history, and melodies to rediscover heritage, we invite you to open a door onto Vietnamese culture and soul.

And this story is not told alone. Anne Bouvier, Olivier Dhénin Hữu and Winterreise Compagnie Théâtre join us in weaving a living dialogue between Vietnamese and French artists.

What we bring to you

A condensed yet richly nuanced panorama of the Vietnamese stage: water puppetry, chèo, tuồng, cải lương, spoken drama and contemporary dance. Born in different eras and cultural regions, some of these forms have existed for centuries, while others emerged as Vietnam entered modernity.

What we wish to present is not a collection of “relics” from the past. These are living heritages, carried by the bodies, voices and creativity of today’s artists. Water puppetry turns water into a stage; chèo brings popular laughter into direct dialogue with the audience; tuồng condenses the world through convention and gesture. Alongside them, spoken drama and contemporary dance show Vietnamese art’s ability to renew itself, reflect, and engage in dialogue with the world.

Over one week, these programmes take place across several venues in Paris. Audiences will not only pass through the different languages of the stage, but truly touch a part of the Vietnamese soul and creative spirit.