VietNamNet Bridge – In the late 1980s, when Le Quang Truc taught literature at a secondary school in HCM City’s rural Hoc Mon District, he was searching for ways to keep his students interested – and awake.

Acting out: Le Quang Truc, lecturer in literature at HCM City Open University, helps his students act in a play based on the English-language novel Atonement, staged at the HCM City Drama Theatre in District 1. Photo courtesy of Le Quang Truc

He started by using the famous work by De Men Phieu Luu Ky (Diary of a Cricket) by author To Hoai. What if the students play-acted the roles of the characters in the tale that every Vietnamese child knew?

It turned out to be a winning approach: The students remained alert, happy and attentive.

Today, Truc, who works as a foreign literature lecturer at HCM City Open University, still incorporates innovative methodology in his classroom.

At the university level, however, he is slightly more demanding. Students are asked to act in full-length plays based on literary works of their choice.

At first, the plays were performed informally in the classroom, but they have since moved to the big stage at the HCM City Drama Theatre in District 1.

It was when Truc’s students performed Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in the classroom about six years ago that he decided to expand the concept.    

“Their performance touched my heart, but it was even more wonderful when they staged the play at the Drama Theatre,” Truc said.

In 2012, Truc submitted a proposal to the Open University’s rector to stage English-language plays at the school, but it was rejected.

He then sought out the director of the Drama Theatre, Tran Khanh Hoang, who provided guidance on acting and costume design.

Language skills

The “theatre in education” concept not only develops creativity but language skills as well, according to Truc.

“Theatre in education and literature has been used in developed countries for many years. We in Viet Nam can do this also, if we want. The country’s students can learn and practise in this environment, just like in developed countries,” Truc said.

Besides acting in English, the activity improves team-building and often helps to uncover the hidden talent of students.

“I also want my students to have an unforgettable university experience,” Truc said.

Open University’s new rector, Nguyen Van Phuc, has provided funds and other assistance to carry out Truc’s theatre initiative every year.

On June 4 and 5, students enrolled in the university’s foreign language faculty, along with students from other universities in the city, performed in plays based on the English-language novels Atonement and Vanity Fair as well as the fairytale The Nightingale and the Rose at the Drama Theatre. The performances were a rousing success.

Truc wants other universities to use his method in the classroom. He is now working with former student Pham Ba Van Quan, a lecturer at Nguyen Tat Thanh University’s Faculty of Foreign Languages, to help more students access the methodology.

Tran Thuc Tai, lecturer at the Open University’s Civil and Electrical Engineering Faculty, who attended the recent performances at the Drama Theatre, said that Truc’s methodology was modern and creative.

“Literature is no longer difficult to learn, and it has become more absorbing for the students,” Tai said.

The new approach has also forced teachers to adapt to a new role.

“In the past, teachers were seen as ‘boat people’, but now they are guides who must become ‘good captains’,” Truc said.

VNS