A scene from the play 'Journey to Find a Portrait' by the Hồ Chí Minh City Drama Theatre that participated in the previous National Drama Festival. Photo courtesy of Department of Performing Arts

HÀ NỘI —  The National Drama Festival 2024 is looking to attract the youngest of the nation's talent, both on and off the stage, when it takes place in June in Thái Nguyên City, in the northern mountain province of Thái Nguyên.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) has brought together the Department of Performing Arts to preside and coordinate with Việt Nam Theatre Artists' Association, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thái Nguyên Province, the Việt Bắc Folk Music and the Dance Theatre to present the biggest national performance event.

The Festival this year aims to not just discover and nurture the newest talent, but to create spaces for artists to perform across all aspects of theatre work, from stage management to promoting the development of all of the nation's theatres and showing off all that they have accomplished.

It is also an opportunity for artistic groups to attract and train young artists and actors, at the same time creating opportunities for them to exchange skills, learn new methods and polish their performances.

According to the Military University of Culture and Arts - another department which will be participating - their play 'Những Mặt Người Thấp Thoáng' (Faces of People) by author Xuân Đức will represent the university life on stage.

Colonel Phùng Thanh Tiến, one of the military university officials, said participating in the National Drama Festival 2024 would be a perfect chance for staff, lecturers and students to demonstrate their abilities and exchange, learn and accumulate experiences as a basis for their training, studying and scientific research.

The actors, he said, would be creative in each role and would want to take advantage of expert support at the Festival, to make their performances as accomplished as possible, setting high standards of artistic quality. 

The festival will take place from June 8-22 at Việt Bắc Folk Music and Dance Theatre in Thái Nguyên City.

At the 2021 National Drama Festival, which took place in the northern coastal city of Hải Phòng both on the stage and online due to the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, 14 art troupes staged 20 performances. The following year, the event held at Trần Hữu Trang Theatre in HCM City, was dramatically bigger, with the participation of nearly 800 artists and actors. VNS