(VOVworld)- Performing theatre in cafes is becoming more popular in Ho Chi Minh City. This trend has already inspired a large audience to draw closer to stage art and artists. 

Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, the Yumy Drama-Café at 208 in Hoa Hung street, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, excites young customers who are fans of coffee and theatre. In a cozy atmosphere, they enjoy coffee and “Late blossoming”, a drama about paying homage to parents. Tran Thu Hong is a customer: “My friends and I often come here. We like this café because the coffee is good, the dramas are very interesting, and the prices are reasonable”.

Theater-cafés are mushrooming in Ho Chi Minh city. In the café a small stage is set up. Because they don’t have much space, sometimes they have to sit in the audience and this makes them very close to the audience. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang lives in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City: “I like watching plays here because of the warm atmosphere between the actors and the audience. I can feel the actors’ expression when they act in the play”.

It isn’t easy to stage a play in a café, but some café owners love theatre so much that they are willing to overcome the difficulties. Nguyen Thien Kim owns a drama-café in District 6, Ho Chi Minh City: “It was very difficult in the beginning, especially to recruit actors. Once a group of actors was set up, we had to write scripts, find directors, and buy equipment. We try to make our plays as interesting as possible”.

Actress Trinh Kim Chi says that although she knew it would be difficult, she was determined to open a theatre-café to support young actors and pursue her dreams of theater: “Opening this theater-café, I hope to create a venue for young actors and attract a larger audience to theater arts”.

The theater-café has created a new space in which to enjoy theater, one that brings actors and their audience closer together. A theater-café is also a place for young stage artist to practice and show off their talents, a place where many artists have been discovered. Actor Ho Thanh Phong is a member of the Thanh Phong Drama Group: “The stage is the place where an actor can play several roles. In a theater-café, there’s no distance between the actors and the audience. We are very close to each other. However, it is also a challenge for us because we need to really focus on our role and perform very well”.

The theater-café model has enriched the lives of people in Ho Chi Minh city, who already had a lot of forms of entertainment.