Cover of the bilingual Vietnamese-English book The Legend of Youth by Lê Quý Dương. — Photo courtesy of Theatre Publlshing House

HÀ NỘI — Established script writer and director Lê Quý Dương this weekend will release a bilingual Vietnamese and English book to mark the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Việt Nam Women's Union.

The book entitled Huyền Thoại Tuổi Thanh Xuân (The Legend of Youth) comprises a script of a theatre work production about ten female martyrs on the battlefield of Đồng Lôc Junction in the central province of Hà Tĩnh.

It highlights the script which Dương penned in exactly three days, from September 30, 2023 to October 2, 2023, or more precisely in exactly 30 hours.

"During the writing process, I felt like each character, each event, situation and detail of the ten characters appeared before my eyes, telling me and showing me the way to write," Dương said.

The book, also introduces images of Hà Tĩnh Province at the present time and the production going on in the background. Some striking images show the moving of more than five tonnes of soil taken from the battlefield in Đồng Lộc T-junction to the theatre.

Dương has written, produced and directed nearly 200 large scale festivals in Việt Nam and the world. He graduated from a Directing Course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art – NIDA (Australia) and won the William Fulbright Scholarship Award to study Film Directing at the The Los Angeles Film School – LAFS in Hollywood, California.

His awards include first prize in an Asialink play writing competition, the Australian Commonwealth Winston Churchill Fellowship Award in Performing Arts, the Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Best Drama Stage and the Australian Federal Government AAA Award in Arts and Culture.

He is the President of Festival and Collaborative Theatre Committee – FACT and has been served as Executive Council Member of the International Theatre Institute – ITI/UNESCO since 2014 until now.

The book launching and signing ceremony will be held on October 19 at 7pm and on October 20 at 2pm at the Vietnamese Women Museum, 36 Lý Thường Kiệt Street. — VNS