Creating a space for quality performances.

By guaranteeing the promotion of participating works after the festival's evaluation, Ho Chi Minh City has supported theaters in showcasing the strengths of each theater brand.

Public and private theater artists are looking forward to the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Festival, with over 20 plays competing on the stages of each participating unit. Even more encouraging is the city's People's Council's approval of a plan to hold the festival every two years, including financial support for promoting high-quality works to audiences in suburban districts and counties.

Solving the difficult problem

In recent days, as the Arts Council of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports began attending performances to assess the artistic quality before 20 participating units entered the competition season, theater artists in Ho Chi Minh City were delighted to learn that, in addition to promoting outstanding literary and artistic works with practical content on "Studying and following the thoughts, ethics, and style of Ho Chi Minh," after this festival, the 20 participating plays will be selected to be performed in various localities, units, and schools throughout Ho Chi Minh City.

People's Artist My Uyen, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Small Stage Theatre, said this is a positive sign, helping to solve the difficult problem of audience numbers. While performing at home for many shows reduces the number of viewers, this promotional campaign will have a positive effect, attracting a large audience and spreading more artistic values ​​to the public. "Specifically, my unit has performed the play 'Dau Xua' (Ancient Traces) over 100 times, with each performance receiving 50 million VND in support. We have brought the work to performance venues far from the city center, to provinces like Binh Phuoc and Binh Duong. This also promises to encourage art units after participating in the festival to promote their works to a wider audience," said People's Artist My Uyen.

Artist Binh Tinh, Head of the Huynh Long Traditional Opera Troupe, said that after the festival, there will be a second promotional performance under the direction of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, aiming to connect and promote not only public art units but also socialized theaters to bring high-quality cultural and artistic works to the public. "The Huynh Long Theater has planned to stage Vietnamese historical plays such as 'The Night Sun of the Century', 'The Hero Who Sells Coal'... to participate in serving the community in creating a cultural and artistic space in Ho Chi Minh City," said artist Binh Tinh.

In the first phase, a total of 30 performances were held, including 10 performances of the dance piece "Legend of the Sac Forest" (Military Region 7 Performing Arts Troupe) and the dance drama "Homeland" (Ho Chi Minh City Dance College); and 20 performances promoting four plays: "The Journey to Find a Portrait" (Ho Chi Minh City Drama Theatre), "The Fiery Field" (Quoc Thao Drama Theatre), "The Cluster of Bau Trees" (Trinh Kim Chi Theatre), and "The Great Uproar in the Dragon Palace" (Small Stage Drama Theatre). People's Artist Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, said that the first phase featured plays that had won high awards at various festivals and competitions, impressing audiences with their content depicting a heroic era of the nation, and their unique and creative staging. "We hope that the results of the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Festival will create momentum for the second phase to promote the award-winning plays, and at the same time open a series of performances to serve young audiences in schools," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy.

A scene from the play "The Last Delirium" by Hoang Thai Thanh Theatre, participating in the Ho Chi Minh City Theatre Festival 2024.

Dedicated midwife

The participation of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports' Arts Council in evaluating and exchanging ideas with the creative team to help the units improve the artistic quality is considered a responsibility towards the theater festival, which is being held in the city after 20 years. Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong believes that in addition to supporting the funding for performances, the State also plays the role of a "facilitator" by providing direct feedback to improve the artistic quality of each unit.

Director and Meritorious Artist Le Nguyen Dat (Sen Viet Theatre) said: "From the professional perspective of the council, which includes reputable directors and specialists, the feedback from the Art Council has improved the quality of each performance, aiming to promote the plays effectively."

Sharing her thoughts with reporters after the first phase, People's Artist My Uyen expressed: "The majority of young audiences in the suburbs were very enthusiastic about seeing plays for the first time, proving that students are lacking artistic opportunities. Therefore, the second promotional phase needs to be organized on a larger scale. Notably, the fact that privately-run theaters received funding to bring their works to a wider audience is a meaningful achievement after participating in the festival."

According to People's Artist Trinh Kim Chi, this is also an opportunity for actors to interact with the public and introduce high-quality theatrical works. "The attention given to socially-funded theater is a motivation for us to boldly invest in more plays on historical and revolutionary themes. Because before the plays come to the festival, the Art Council has given responsible feedback," said People's Artist Trinh Kim Chi.

A scene from the play "The Last Delirium" by Hoang Thai Thanh Theatre, participating in the Ho Chi Minh City Theatre Festival 2024.

People's Artist Giang Manh Ha - Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Stage Artists, and a member of the Judging Panel for plays participating in the Ho Chi Minh City Stage Festival - enthusiastically stated that the city had been extremely thoughtful in its organization. Bringing together more than 20 high-quality plays to participate in the festival, and even providing support for promotion and ensuring the plays reach a wider audience in the city, is a truly humane approach.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tao-khong-gian-cho-vo-dien-chat-luong-196241008210049103.htm