Opened on November 15, the 12-day show introduces 21 plays of different art genres such as drama, cai luong (reformed theatre), puppetry and circus.
Speaking at the opening ceremony in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong said the event is an important activity in the context that the world stage and other art industries are recovering after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It creates an opportunity for Vietnamese theatre artists to exchange experience and learn from their foreign peers, he said.
People’s Artist Trinh Thuy Mui, President of the Vietnam Stage Artists’ Association, said that the festival aims to improve art quality as well as encourage innovation and creativity in the country’s theatre art, adding that experiential theatre will contribute to meeting the taste of the audience in the integration process.
Co-organised by the Vietnam Stage Artists' Association and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Performing Arts Department, the first, second, third, and fourth editions of the festival were held in Vietnam in 2002, 2006, 2016, and 2019, respectively.
At the last edition, 21 plays were staged by 14 troupes from host Vietnam and seven others from Hungary, Israel, India, the Republic of Korea, China, Singapore, and Greece. Four plays from Vietnam and Israel won the gold medals.
