Experience has shown that for the performing arts to truly transform, theaters’ own stopgap efforts are not enough. Vietnam’s arts and culture sector urgently needs systematic investment and tailored mechanisms to remove the obstacles holding digital transformation back.

As the Government moves decisively to implement Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, issued by the Politburo on December 22, 2024, on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is accelerating digital transformation and strengthening the country’s digital cultural infrastructure.

Decree No. 277/2026/ND-CP on Digital Cultural Infrastructure establishes mechanisms to address fundamental challenges through a data-driven governance model, including expanding access to culture. In the performing arts, building databases is directly linked to artistic creation and the promotion of works. Where audiences once had to travel to theaters, advances in digital infrastructure can now allow them to watch high-quality performances from anywhere.

Several arts organizations, including the Vietnam National Drama Theatre, Vietnam National Music Song and Dance Theatre and Youth Theatre, have adopted multi-platform approaches to performance, opening up new spaces for artists and audiences to experiment.

Industry 4.0 technologies have brought change and development to the performing arts, creating new opportunities for artistic creation, production, distribution and experience. The combination of performing arts and Industry 4.0 technologies has enabled distinctive experiences and products with levels of interactivity and personalization that were previously difficult to achieve.

This has opened a new direction for the arts sector, helping it reach broader audiences, particularly young people who are accustomed to digital technology.

Speaking with VietNamNet, Meritorious Artist Kieu Minh Hieu, Director of the Vietnam National Drama Theatre, which is regarded as a pioneer in using digital platforms to promote the arts, said no other theater currently maintains as consistent a performance schedule as his institution, with eight to 12 shows a month. He attributed much of that achievement to the theater’s communications efforts across digital platforms.

Tran Huong Duong, Deputy Director of the Department of Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the department is developing a project to digitize and organize a database of performing arts programs and activities. Cai luong, or reformed theater, spoken drama and other productions that have achieved strong results at professional arts festivals in Vietnam and abroad will be digitized for communication, promotion and wider public access.

The works selected for inclusion in the database will be appraised by a professional council comprising arts and fine arts researchers and representatives of relevant authorities. Alongside updating the database with programs of significant artistic and content value, the Department of Performing Arts also plans to add newly created works.

Infrastructure challenges and the complexities of ticketing

Despite maintaining a notable number of performances at a time when traditional theater faces competition from many other forms of entertainment, the Director of the Vietnam National Drama Theatre said the institution has yet to venture into commercially distributing its productions online.

Building a digital ticketing system currently presents a number of challenges. First, the Vietnam National Drama Theatre operates a relatively small venue, making online ticketing and the application of tax to individual tickets less straightforward. The theater also has its own rules for special categories of tickets, including those used for external relations and complimentary admission, making it difficult to integrate and calculate everything consistently through an automated ticketing system.

“When digitalization is applied across all theater operations and the performing arts, including ticket issuance and sales, these problems begin to emerge. Let me take the Vietnam National Drama Theatre as a practical example. Our auditorium has just over 100 seats, and sometimes we cannot sell every ticket or fill the venue. In those cases, we often use the empty seats for complimentary tickets for external relations and diplomatic purposes.

If management agencies rely solely on the digital system, see those seats marked as occupied and those tickets as issued, and then use that information to calculate and collect tax, it would be completely inaccurate and unreasonable for an arts institution. We currently have mechanisms and policies designed to support the development of culture and the arts. At a time when theater and the performing arts are facing enormous difficulties, is applying the same tax mechanism across the board really appropriate? And could there be a tailored mechanism specifically for the performing arts?” Kieu Minh Hieu said.

Nevertheless, since the beginning of the year, the theater has proactively worked with major technology partners and received demonstration versions of proposed systems. The cost of developing a website and an integrated system for ticketing and promotion, however, remains extremely high. Compared with the Vietnam National Drama Theatre’s current revenue, the investment required is simply too large.

Decree 277 on Digital Cultural Infrastructure represents a strategic turning point, laying the initial foundations for the development of Vietnam’s digital cultural infrastructure. Yet the lack of practical financial support continues to make the process of building digital platforms extremely difficult.

Despite these challenges, the Vietnam National Drama Theatre is continuing its efforts to lead the way into the digital cultural space. For now, however, these remain largely self-funded, stopgap measures. The theater has yet to receive the systematic investment needed to build a fundamental and sustainable digital platform.

Another major barrier with no clear solution yet is copyright protection. The nature of theatrical productions means they are performed repeatedly and need to retain their appeal in order to continue selling tickets. Theaters therefore cannot simply make their productions widely available online for commercial purposes.

Putting such works into the digital environment carries substantial risks of unauthorized copying and distribution. This could allow other individuals and organizations to profit illegally from the intellectual and creative work of the Vietnam National Drama Theatre - a problem that remains extremely difficult to control.

Tinh Le