Waiting for the works...

The festival is expected to select worthy works that will portray the face of theatrical art in 2024, aiming towards core values ​​of life in Ho Chi Minh City - civilized, modern, and compassionate.

Artistic direction

According to insiders, Ho Chi Minh City has hosted several successful festivals such as the National Small Theatre Festival, the Ho Chi Minh City Comedy Theatre Festival, and the Autumn Theatre Festival. Therefore, the Ho Chi Minh City Theatre Festival 2024 is an opportunity for the city's theatre scene to showcase the positive values ​​of performing arts in general, and theatre in particular, thereby assessing the achievements and quality of theatre activities in Ho Chi Minh City. This is also an opportunity for professional theatre organizations, including public and private institutions in Ho Chi Minh City, to interact, learn, and exchange experiences.

"The festival also contributes to guiding artistic activities and encouraging participating units to create programs and works of increasingly higher quality," observed Meritorious Artist Le Nguyen Dat.

Currently, the team of playwrights in Ho Chi Minh City is no longer stuck in terms of creative direction, methods of receiving and interpreting the conflicts and contradictions of contemporary society and people. Evidence of this is that through scriptwriting workshops in recent years, many excellent scripts from the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association's Playwrights' Branch have been promoted on the stages of Ho Chi Minh City's theaters.

"These are the clearest proofs that allow us to expect this theater festival to showcase truly outstanding theatrical works," expressed People's Artist Trinh Thuy Mui, Vice President of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations and President of the Vietnam Association of Theater Artists.

It must be a mirror reflecting life.

It must be acknowledged that recently, privately run theaters have undergone significant changes. Many stages in Ho Chi Minh City are now open more regularly. Even the niche genre of traditional Vietnamese opera, "hat boi," has seen many improvements.

However, according to experts, for many years and even in 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City theater scene has lacked scripts on contemporary themes, on pressing issues that are impacting many aspects and changing people and society in the era of integration. Theater writers cannot simply avoid or remain detached from the vibrant life unfolding around them. The thorny issues of corruption and crime are affecting people and society in every way and threatening values. If writers remain indifferent, the theater's revival in 2024 will only focus on meeting entertainment needs, without a concerted effort to overcome these limitations and make the theater a mirror reflecting life.

To achieve this, People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association, said that the Association is planning to gather young directors in the field of Cai Luong theater to equip them with more experience and knowledge.

People's Artist Tran Minh Ngoc hopes that the festival's Art Council will "separate the wheat from the chaff" to select worthy, high-quality works that will portray the face of Ho Chi Minh City's theatrical arts in 2024.

We must resolutely eliminate the old scenario.

What concerns the theater community is that recent theater festivals have been plagued by controversy, prohibiting overly old scripts from participating. However, in pursuit of quantity, some organizers have broken the rules, allowing troupes to use old scripts, only to ultimately not award any prizes.

Director Ton That Can, Permanent Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association, suggested that participating units should be required to submit new scripts to the festival.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/lien-hoan-san-khau-tp-hcm-2024-cho-nhung-tac-pham-xung-tam-19624082820442357.htm