The play King Oedipus by the Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema's students will be performed at the 6th Asian Theatre Schools Festival. (Photo:Hà Nội Academy of Theatre and Cinema)

The play is staged by director Bui Nhu Lai and features students from the academy. 

The main themes of the play are fate and free will; the conflict between the individual and the state; people’s willingness to ignore painful truths; and sight and blindness. The director has modernised the work. 

The play focuses on the terrible tragedy of King Oedipus in the process of confrontation and determination to find the truth in the curse that he will kill his father and marry his mother.

Extreme pain is necessary for people to be more mature. It is important that from the deepest parts, man still retains his dignity, his love for humanity and the world, said the director. 

Student Hoang Lam, who plays Oedipus, said that at first he was very worried when he read the script.