Two actors from Britain’s TNT Theatre at a press conference in HCM City.

It earned both profits from tickets sales and audience appreciation for TNT’s performances of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in HCM City and Ha Noi.

“I targeted students of international schools where Romeo and Juliet is taught,” Duong explains.

“These young people have money and are fond of learning and speaking English.

“We also considered demand from embassies and tourists.”

TNT performed eight shows in HCM City and three shows in Ha Noi.

“We’re happy that tickets were sold out days before the shows in both HCM City and Ha Noi,” Duong said.

Other theatres in HCM City are constantly endeavouring to attract audiences. The mini-theatre at the Institute for Cultural Exchange with France has started to put on shows specifically meant for children who are now on summer vacations.

“Tickets are sold out for the institute’s daily show of a fairytale titled Ngay Xua Ngay Xua (Once Upon a Time),” Huynh Anh Tuan, institute theatre manager, said.

Tuan’s Rong Vang (Golden Dragon) Water Puppetry Theatre has attracted a large number of viewers, including foreign tourists, since opening at the Culture House for Workers two years ago.

It has two shows on weekdays and three during weekends.

The troupe’s repertoire is rich and diverse, and includes not only excerpts from classical and popular dramas but also about the exploits of national heroes and traditional rituals.

Audiences throng to Phu Nhuan Theatre which stages comedies and other plays based on traditional stories from the north every evening.

“We stage these dramas because a large number of northern people live in Phu Nhuan and nearby Go Vap Districts,” artist Hong Van, manager of Phu Nhuan Theatre, said.

Young audiences are frequenting the comedy theatre at 135 Hai Ba Trung Street, District 1.

With nine theatres, each running a show every evening and some staging three on Sundays, HCM City’s thespian community seems to have a choice of venues.

“Most of the plays staged in the city are modern and audiences aren’t bored,” playwright Nguyen Thi Minh Thai said.

“Despite the great attraction of TV and films, we still like to watch dramas where emotions are more personal,” Ngoc Hanh, a drama aficionado, said.

VietNamNet/VNS