Meritorious Artist Mỹ Uyên will run a drama course for children at HCM City Small Theatre this summer. —Photo courtesy of the theatre

By Thu Anh 

HCM CITY — Children in HCM City are encouraged to join training courses in performance skills launched by the Small Theatre, a leading private theatre, this summer. 

Before taking the courses, children aged 5 to 15 will take part in selection rounds hosted by the theatre’s veteran artists in drama, comedy, music and dance, and will later be trained at different levels of performance.

The students will study with professional artists, including Meritorious Artist Mỹ Uyên and Hữu Thạch, and will have opportunities to perform in the theatre’s dramas and comedies scheduled for this summer. 

After training, they will work with film studios and entertainment agencies.

“We believe children cannot grow without knowledge of and love for theatre, music and dance, which are an intrinsic part of the human spirit,” said Meritorious Artist Uyên, the theatre’s director. 

“Our summer courses will lure children away from online games and films on their ipads and smartphones.” 

Uyên’s theatre offers performance courses every Saturday and Sunday. The courses provide basic training in theatre, music and dance. 

The fees are from VNĐ3.9 million (US$180) to VNĐ6.6 million for five or eight weeks.

Children are encouraged to take part in training courses in drama, comedy, music and dance launched by artists of HCM City Small Theatre. — Photo courtesy of the theatre

Uyên, who is also a theatre producer and has more than 20 years of experience, said that creating courses for children is difficult.

“One reason is that we do not have enough money, and performances should have many things like beautiful costumes,” she said. 

“However, we will find suitable ways to pitch special courses aimed at children offering both entertainment and education.”

Art troupes and cultural houses in the city are offering summer courses in traditional Vietnamese music, theatre, painting, cooking, swimming and chess to attract children this summer.

Many of the courses are free at cultural houses for children in the rural districts of Củ Chi, Nhà Bè, Thủ Đức and Hóc Môn.

Trần Thanh Xuân, mother of two sons living in Thủ Đức, will send her kids to painting and swimming classes at Thủ Đức District’s Cultural House after the school year, which ended on July 12. 

“In the past, city parents made their children study during the three-month summer vacation. Today they have changed their view and let their kids enjoy summer as a way to refresh their minds,” said Xuân. 

Children aged 5 to 15 can take part in courses in performance skills launched by the HCM City Small Theatre, a leading private theatre, this summer. They will be trained in drama, comedy, music and dance by the theatre’s veteran artists such as Meritorious Artist Mỹ Uyên and Hữu Thạch. — Photo courtesy of HCM City Small Theatre

Young actor Hoàng Ngọc Sơn of HCM City Small Theatre, who will run a drama course for children aged between 5 and 9 at the theatre in District 3's Võ Văn Tần Street, said: “I know some parents who are not wealthy, but they still save money to send their kids to our theatre.”

“Parents should reduce their children’s study load, and let them relax and do their favourite things during the long break after the school year,” he said. — VNS