Musical «Lọ Lem – Chiếc Giày Thủy Tinh» (Cinderella)

   A Sunday afternoon in a kitchen where the broom, the clock and the wooden barrel all talk back. The Vietnam Youth Theatre retells the Grimm story with a modern score, near-constant choreography and a multi-level set built to keep small children looking up.

   What sets this version apart is Cinderella's mother. She is no longer a faded memory but a presence running through the whole show, and Cinderella herself does not sit waiting for magic — she notices injustice and still chooses kindness.

   The people and details behind it:

• — Script by Hồng Quế, directed by Thúy Hằng, who comes from dance and choreography and builds the show as a chorus of movement
• — People's Artist Doãn Bằng designed the multi-level set, the pumpkin carriage and a glass slipper made of light
• — Composer Tuấn Nghĩa wrote an original score; the production also uses «Dancing in the dark» by Vietnamese singer Soobin Hoàng Sơn
• — Young actress Yến My plays Cinderella

   This one is for families with small children, and for the adults who come along — most of the laughs belong to the talking household objects, while the quiet moments belong to a mother and her daughter. The show is performed in Vietnamese, but the story is familiar enough that non-Vietnamese children follow it through music and movement.

   There is a single performance in this run, on Sunday afternoon, 20 September. The theatre does not seat anyone more than 30 minutes after curtain.

   An afternoon out for the whole family, in a hall a short walk from the southern edge of Hoàn Kiếm district.