Play «Bóng Đàn Ông» (A Man's Shadow)

   A small hall in central Ho Chi Minh City where the audience laughs out loud early on and sits very quiet by the end. This is a tragicomedy about people who have buried their own past so deep they have half forgotten who they are — and about the night it refuses to stay buried. If you want Vietnamese theatre the way locals actually watch it, rather than a version arranged for visitors, this is the room to start in.

   It is directed by Cao Tấn Lộc, with Trần Đại and An Thi as production directors. The play grew out of «Lỡ nhớ lầm thương», a graduation piece by students of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Theatre and Cinema working under the same director, and it has held its place in the repertoire since the Tết season of 2024 — this is its third year. The characters are named after feelings: Thương (love), Lầm (mistake), Nhớ (longing), Hận (resentment), each carrying something they would rather bury for good. The word bóng in the title means "shadow", and in everyday speech it also names a person living in a role that does not match the one on their papers.

   Gia Bảo and Minh Dự play the central pair, described by the newspaper Tuổi Trẻ as the new double act of the Vietnamese stage. Gia Bảo is Hoàng Dung, a drinks seller who once sang with a travelling lô tô troupe — a southern Vietnamese fairground show in which the lottery numbers are sung rather than called out. Minh Dự is Lộ Sương Sương, the son of a wealthy family pushed back by relatives into a marriage and a child, who still puts on a dress once the house is asleep. Their turn as the Green Snake and the White Snake from the old legend is, by Tuổi Trẻ's account, where the hall laughs hardest. Khả Như, Thuận Nguyễn and Phương Lan carry the surrounding stories.

   It suits anyone curious about contemporary Vietnamese theatre away from the tourist circuit, and anyone who likes comedy with a floor underneath it. The material is adult: infidelity, abuse inside a family, and the cost of living in someone else's role. The theatre publishes no official age rating, so use your own judgement if you are bringing a teenager.

   The Thế Giới Trẻ stage has run since 2010 The hall holds a little over three hundred seats, and the house has aimed at a young audience, and young performers, from the day it opened.

   There are only fifteen VVIP seats in the room, and the theatre's own box office (028 2228 3825) is the only place that sells them; the other two categories are available online. The performance is in Vietnamese, and a good share of the comedy is carried physically — gesture, timing, a sidelong glance.

   One evening of «Bóng Đàn Ông» is on sale: Saturday, 24 October, at 20:00. If it is free for you, it is a straightforward way to find out what Saigon is laughing at right now. Book a ticket