Chèo show «Nét duyên Chèo Hà thành» (The Grace of Hanoi Chèo)

   You don't need to sit through a full-length play to get to know chèo, the traditional Vietnamese theater of song, dance and folk humor. In central Hanoi, the Hanoi Cheo Theatre (Nhà hát Chèo Hà Nội) has packed well-known scenes of the classical repertoire into a one-hour program designed above all for first-timers.

   The program brings together four famous excerpts from classical plays, staged not as separate numbers but as one continuous performance that moves between tragedy and comedy, lyricism and high spirits:
— «Thị Mầu lên chùa» (Thi Mau Goes to the Pagoda): the flirtatious, irrepressible Thi Mau (Thị Mầu)
— «Súy Vân giả dại» (Suy Van Feigns Madness): the anguish of Suy Van (Súy Vân), caught between lucidity and madness
— «Lưu Bình – Dương Lễ»: a deeply humane story of friendship and loyalty
— «Phù thủy sợ ma» (The Sorcerer Who Feared Ghosts): witty, good-natured folk humor

   The creative team is a roll call of senior artists: script and artistic direction by People's Artist Thu Huyen (Thu Huyền), the theater's director; staging and editing by People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung (Nguyễn Tiến Dũng); choreography by People's Artist Hong Phong (Hồng Phong); music by Meritorious Artist Duy Hoa (Duy Hoà); and design by painter Ngo Thang (Ngô Thắng). On stage are several generations of the company, from Meritorious Artists Hong Nam (Hồng Nam) and Phuong May (Phương Mây) to young performers such as Quang Duong (Quang Dương), Thanh Huyen (Thanh Huyền) and Dieu Linh (Diệu Linh).

   The show is only part of the evening. According to the schedule published by the theater, guests are welcomed an hour before curtain into a chèo culture space, where you can look at costumes and props, learn about chèo's stock roles and classic characters, and talk with the performers. Lighting, an LED screen, music and scene changes are handled in a contemporary way, while chèo's symbolic, conventional stage language stays intact, and interaction between actors and audience is one of the program's central ideas.

   The program was made with young people, students and travelers meeting traditional theater for the first time in mind. Dialogue is deliberately pared back and the story is carried by visual action, so it is easy to follow even if you know next to nothing about chèo. For longtime chèo fans, it is a chance to meet familiar characters told in a new way.

   «Nét duyên Chèo Hà thành» means roughly «the charm of Hanoi chèo» (Hà thành is an old name for Hanoi); the theater's own English title is The Grace of Hanoi Chèo. It is the first in a series of high-quality, Hanoi-branded productions that the city commissioned for residents and visitors. It premiered on 24 July 2026 right here at Rạp Đại Nam, and since August the theater has staged it on a regular basis.

   In October the show runs on Saturdays, though not every week; the theater publishes its schedule month by month. According to the newspaper Báo Văn Hóa, performances are subtitled for international audiences. Book through the form on the theater's website, by messaging its Facebook page, or by phone: besides the main number, the hotlines 090 4163977, 091 5118064 and 0972 945 258 also take bookings. Email: [email protected].

   If you want to find out in a single evening what classic Vietnamese theater feels like, spend a Saturday night at Rạp Đại Nam and come early for the chèo culture space.