Phương Nam Art Theatre's director Lê Ích Diễn. Photo sggp.vn

Tickets for a circus show by Phương Nam Art Theatre in HCM City are sold out until the end of the month. The show Vùng Đất Kỳ Bí (The Mysterious Land) was set to end, but now the run is being extended due to its popularity.

Artist Lê Ích Diễn, the theatre director, spoke about the show and how it is being staged in HCM City.

The Mysterious Land show has become a phenomenon, attracting packed houses due to its modern take on traditional circus techniques. How do you feel at the show's success?

Yes, I am surprised at how impactful the show has been and after so many years of working. The show's success is so meaningful for us, showing that if we put on a highly technical and appealing show, for all ages, then the audience will come to see it.

There are many factors behind our success. Firstly, we have made a huge effort to renovate circus performing and the entire crew of more than 20 young artists have to practice for more than two months to ensure that they could do the difficult performances and show such skills.

We have had technique upgrades too, using new technology. Notably, incorporating large puppets into the show, so even little ones can enjoy the show, these puppets are made to have a direct interaction with the audience.

Hopefully, the show will be an important step to develop both circus and puppetry in HCM City.

What is The Mysterious Land about?

Unlike traditional circus acts, the show captivates audiences with immersive storytelling, following a village's quest to end a drought by retrieving five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

The audiences will see the journey of the five elements witnessing their struggles before they learn to connect and harmonise, restoring balance and bringing nature back to its perfect state.

The production took two years to develop, featuring 24 artists and advanced stage design, blending acrobatics, acting, puppetry and choreography.

This new style creates a vivid picture charming the audience both children and adults. Put simply it is a great show.

How's the show produced?

We have produced three shows in this new format, but I was not totally satisfied. One of them Bí Mật Nơi Đảo Hoang (The Secret in Desert Island) was made by Công Nguyễn and it was performed on a water-filled stage. I think the show was interesting, but it needed to have more capital investment.

The city's culture authority invested VNĐ1,5 billion of đồng (roughly US$60,000) into the theatre and I encouraged Nguyễn to make The Mysterious Land.

Tickets for Phương Nam Art Theatre's circus show 'Vùng Đất Kỳ Bí' are sold out by the end of this month. Photo courtesy of the theatre

In your opinion, what is needed to develop circus arts in HCM City?

Humans always play an important role in all art sectors. Currently, Phương Nam Art Theatre recruits young talents who graduate from HCM College of Theatre and Cinema.

They contribute to refresh the theatre repertoires. They have won awards at national and international festivals. In 2023, Couple Swing by Thanh Hoa and Hiển Phước won a gold medal at Kazakhstan International Circus Festival.

Some of the students become directors like Nguyễn and Mạnh Quyền. The success of The Mysterious Land will stimulate them to continue to create.

How about your theatre, does it perform well?

The theatre's repertoire includes circus and puppet shows. We operate well in both of these areas in the city. Plus, we regularly attend international circus festivals.

Puppet shows are always sold out. We invested a lot of money into the water puppet show Hero Nguyễn Trung Trực. It has been performed in the southwestern provinces on the occasion of the hero's death anniversary.

I myself am a performer and director so I always produce the shows that combine different genres. Our foreign colleagues agree that it is interesting. I think that today any single-act performance is over, instead, circus should have stories and convey humane messages.

Will you take advantage of the Phú Thọ Circus and Multipurpose Performance Theatre which is going to be inaugurated next month to have new repertoires?

Water puppetry is traditional cultural heritage with ancient and unique stories. It needs to have appropriate investment to develop and spread value of the traditional water puppetry.

But we lack a performance stage. We have a stage to put on some water puppetry in HCM History Museum complex, but it is too small and not up to modern standards. We even don't have a permanent stage performing puppetry, we just perform puppetry at schools.

As a result, we cannot invest in puppetry production.

The artists will be happy to perform at the Phú Thọ theatre. It has 2,000 seats which cover different theatrical genres and styles and a smaller theatre with 300 seats and it is there, at the smaller stage, that we will be doing puppetry shows.

We are confident to make good use of the Phú Thọ theatre because we have a good crew. We will continue extensive training courses for the young artists and the city's culture authority will help us to attract new talents.

Currently, we are preparing shows for the Phú Thọ theatre's inaugural ceremony and marking the 50th anniversary of South Liberation and National Reunification Day on April 30. VNS