Theatre artists of HCM City perform in a charity programme that raises funds for poor artists and their families. The event is launched by the city’s Theatre Association and its partners. Photo courtesy of HCM City Theatre Association.

HCM CITY— The HCM City Theatre Association offered 400 Tết (Lunar New Year) gifts to poor artists and their families last weekend. 

The artists, including elderly and backstage workers, received Tết gifts worth VNĐ2 million (US$85) in cash each. 

Gift baskets with essential items needed during Tết, such as candies, nuts, spices and nutritious foods, were also included.

Seventy students from the HCM City University of Theatre & Cinematography with good study results received scholarships worth VNĐ3 million ($127) each. 

The charity is part of a long-term social programme launched by the association and veteran artists, including People’s Artist Kim Cương, who is a guru of cải lương. 

“We hope poor artists, who have devoted their lives to Vietnamese art, will have a happy Tết,” said People’s Artist Trịnh Kim Chi, deputy chairwoman of the association. 

The association and its members have offered different theatre shows to raise funds for charity. 

Highlighted events include Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm (Traditional Performers Together), an annual variety show aimed to encourage organisations and individuals to contribute to charity. 

The show features theatre stars, such as Kim Tiểu Long, Võ Minh Lâm and Bình Tinh, who perform for free. 

Last year, this show raised VNĐ1.5 billion ($62,500) funds, and many clothes and food to help disadvantaged people and children, including poor and elderly artists who have no family and relatives. 

Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm was launched in 2000 in HCM City.

Its founder, cải lương guru Cương, has devoted her life to theatre and charity. 

Cương began her career when she was very young. In 1960, she opened Kim Cương Drama Troupe, the first and leading drama troupe in the south, managing a staff of more than 70 actors. 

She worked to combine cải lương and drama. Her troupe became a phenomenon in the industry in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Cương wrote 50 plays during her career, most highlighting southern women and their characters. Her works have been staged many times by leading drama troupes across the country.  

In 2023, Cương launched a programme called Trái Tim Yêu Thương (Beloved Heart) to offer financial and emotional support and care, and consulting assistance for 118 children orphaned by COVID-19 to live and study until they are 18 years old.

Cương and her staff have worked with the HCM City Association in Support of Disabled People and Orphaned Children to run the programme. 

“We believe love and kindness can connect people together,” the 88-year-old Cương.—VNS