Hanoi Drama Theater's piece Khoang trong (The Void) will be the opening act of the 2024 Hanoi Open Stage Festival, which will be held at the Cong Nhan and Dai Nam playhouses and other theaters in Hanoi from November 1 to 9.

The Void tells the story of an intellectual love triangle that is turbulent and tragic. They choose to suppress their emotions to accept a shaky, calculated and artificial happiness, and preserve their reputation and the tranquility for themselves and their family.

At the press conference on October 28, People's Artist Trung Hieu, Director of the Hanoi Drama Theater, said that actors and actresses are eager for the festival because it is a playground for professional art troupes, an annual event that reflects the capital's performing arts landscape.

A scene from the drama The Void by the Hanoi Drama Theater.  Photo courtesy of the theater

According to Do Dinh Hong, Director of Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports, this year's festival has a new feature: in addition to Hanoi's art units, theaters from some neighboring provinces and cities have also been invited to present stage works about Hanoi.

The festival's dramas vividly depict all facets of social life, the nation and the Vietnamese people.

The Organizing Committee will award bonus points to plays that deal with the history, culture and people of Hanoi now and in the past; celebrate beauty and humanistic ideals; decry the ugly, mean and evil; have a positive social impact; and demonstrate the importance of awareness, education and aesthetics. 

Effective artistic approaches and forms of expression must be incorporated into the layout and structure, along with numerous innovative and creative discoveries, while remaining faithful to the basic elements of the genre.

Hong pointed out that this is an opportunity to enhance the cultural and artistic values of the capital, to educate and promote the patriotic tradition, the glorious revolutionary tradition of Hanoi with a thousand years of culture, the Party Committee, the Government, the Army and the people of Hanoi in the journey of fighting, building and developing the heroic capital, the city of peace.

Do Dinh Hong, Director of Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports, speaks at the press conference. Photo: Cam Tu/The Hanoi Times

The festival provides art organizations with the opportunity to interact, share, and learn from the creative process. This focus on collaboration encourages the production of diverse, high-quality works that will benefit audiences nationwide, especially the citizens of the capital.

The Hanoi Open Stage Festival 2024 is jointly organized by the Vietnam Theatre Artists Association, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports and related units.

Hanoi audiences can enjoy free performances of the Hanoi Open Stage Festival 2024 at Dai Nam Theater (89 Hue Street, Hai Ba Trung District), Cong Nhan Theater (42 Trang Tien Street, Hoan Kiem District), Tuoi Tre Theater (11 Ngo Thi Nham Street, Hai Ba Trung District), Vietnam Puppetry Theater (361 Truong Chinh Street, Thanh Xuan District), Thang Long Imperial Citadel Water Puppet Performance Stage (19C Hoang Dieu Street, Ba Dinh District).