VietNamNet Bridge – Several music and dance performances will be held in HCM City to celebrate National Theatre Day, the 12th day of the eighth lunar month [which falls on this Thursday].

People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau – File photo

A gala started yesterday (Sept 20) with dozens of actors from various theatres performing together at Cong Nhan Theatre.

The theatres include cai luong (renovated theatre), tuong (classical theatre), cheo (traditional opera), and circus and puppet show artists.

Highlights of the shows will include cai luong and drama extracts from popular plays like Tron Doi Vuong To (Love Forever), Ben Binh Than (Binh Thanh Wharf), Phia Sau Toi Ac (Behind the Crime) and Nguoi Dan Ba Uong Ruou (Drunk Women).

The performances will feature well-known stars Thanh Loan, Thanh Ngan, Tu Suong, My Uyen and Quy Binh.

Organised by the city's Theatres Association in co-operation with Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theatre, the event will be broadcast live on HCM City Television's HTV9.

Cultural houses will organise exhibitions of photographs and instruments that trace the development history of Viet Nam's theatre. Music and song performances will also be included.

Young artists will perform without royalty to raise funds helping poor actors and their children.

"Theatre Day is a very big and solemn celebration," said People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau, chairperson of the city's Theatre Association. "Altars for our ancestors have been set up by every troupe over more than three centuries."

On the day, veteran actors like Giau, Thanh Tong and Kim Cuong will make offerings, perform worshipping rituals and enjoy parties.

On Theatre Day, people pay their respects to former theatre artists who founded the art form and contributed to its development include mentors, talented actors and others, including musicians, choreographers, carpenters, blacksmiths and even traders.

Apart from ancestry, every theatre worships two baby dolls which represent the audience that patronise the art and offer a means of livelihood to artists.

VNS