HCM CITY —  HCM City’s theatres promise a variety of new shows this Tết (Lunar New Year festival), which falls this year on February 5, to suit audiences of varying musical and dramatic tastes. 

For comedy fans, the Phú Nhuận Drama Stage on Trường Sơn Street in Tân Bình District will offer a special series of three comedies each night from next weekend to February 15.   

Tắt Đèn Là Chạy (Run Out), Cơn Mê Cuối Cùng (The Last Dream) and Cung Tâm Kế (Game of Throne) has attracted young actors from the HCM City University of Theatre and Cinematography. The plays focus on messages about love.  

“We decided to stage comedies during the Tết holiday because people want to be entertained and forget their problems after a year of hard work. Our actors will perform with sound and light effects on a modern stage," said People’s Artist and comedic actress Hồng Vân, the theatre’s owner and art director.

“We hope our shows will bring good profits during the year’s biggest business season,” she added. 

Vân’s theatre spent VNĐ2 billion (US$87,000) on production.

Another option for laughs is Vẻ Đẹp Hoàn Hảo (Perfect Beauty) staged by the IDECAF Drama Stage in Distrct 1’s Lê Thánh Tôn Street. Directed by Vũ Minh, the play focuses on lessons about love and family. Famous comedians Thành Lộc and Đình Toàn will be featured.  

The play will be first staged at 8pm on January 18.

For more quiet selections, try the popular stages of HCM City 5B Drama Theatre on Võ Văn Tần Street in District 3 and Hoàng Thái Thanh Drama Club on Bắc Hải Street in District 10. Both are popular with local students and workers.

Hoàng Thái Thanh Drama Club’s Nửa Đời Ngơ Ngác (Life), one of the theatre’s favourite works, portrays the changes in traditional values related to young farmers, particularly women. The leading characters are played by veteran actresses Meritorious Artist Tuyết Thu, Hạnh Thúy, Hồng Ánh and Ái Như, the theatre’s co-founder and art director.  

Nửa Đời Ngơ Ngác, written by Hoàng Thái Thanh, was first staged in HCM City in 2010, starring talented actors Quang Thảo and Ngọc Lan.

The play has been staged for 150 shows. It will be restaged in a new version by art director Như, who has more than 20 years of experience in the theatre. 

Như worked hard to rewrite and direct the version.

“Nửa Đời Ngơ Ngác and its spirit are still in the minds of theatre lovers,” said Như, adding that she wants the play’s new version to meet the demands of young audiences.

The HCM City 5B Drama Theatre is working on Chợ Đời Hát Rong (Voice of Life), a drama directed by young talent Bùi Quốc Bảo.  

The play highlights a poor, veteran actress in cải lương (reformed opera), played by Mỹ Uyên, who shares her stories about career, love, money and glory. It also focuses on the challenges and sacrifices she faces to preserve the art. 

The show’s leading actors Lê Phương and Quý Bình will dance and sing cải lương.

"Through our show, audiences can laugh but also can cry and gain useful lessons. We hope our creative approach toward the play will provide a relaxing and humorous evening for audiences during Tết,” said the theatre’s director and actress Uyên.

All of the new plays will be staged every night during the Tết holiday.

Fans of music should head to the HCM City Youth Cultural House on Phạm Ngọc Thạch Street in District 1.

The house will stage a free outdoor theatre and music show, Mừng Xuân Mới (Celebrating New Spring), on Lunar New Year’s Eve, February 4.   

The event includes songs, dances, circuses and one-act comedian shows, attracting nearly a hundred of singers, dancers and theatre artists.  

More than 7,000 people are expected to join the show. — VNS