Play «Chiếc Đèn Ông Sao Xuyên Không» (The Star Lantern Through Time)

   Mid-autumn in Ho Chi Minh City usually means paper lanterns out on the street. This one happens indoors instead: the poster shows the Moon Lady Hằng, the boy Cuội beside his tree and rabbits under a full moon, and from there the story takes a turn when a star-shaped paper lantern carries the characters through time.

   The play is written and directed by Quốc Thảo, on the stage that carries his name. The theatre keeps the plot to itself: all the audience is given in advance is the starting point, a star lantern and a journey across time, and the rest is saved for the performance.

   The short version of what matters:

   — writer and director: Quốc Thảo
— cast: Phương Thảo, Nhựt Quốc, Gia Lợi, Quốc Lynh, Vương Thanh Tâm, Sunny Đặng, Hoàng Phương Mai, Thái Trân, Lan Trinh, Duy Khang, Dương Khang and Bé Ngọc Diệp
— the play runs on two evenings in a row, with the same programme both times
— one of the ticket categories is reserved for school and university students, who are asked to show a student card at the door

   This is an evening for families with young children and for anyone who would rather meet the full moon in a theatre seat than in a crowded lantern street. Children recognise the characters of the mid-autumn legend at once, while adults get the familiar tale retold in an unfamiliar way.

   The title leans on an object every Vietnamese child has held: the five-pointed đèn ông sao, a bamboo frame covered in coloured cellophane with a candle in the middle, carried through the streets on the night of the full moon. From that piece of holiday craft the play opens a door into another time, and that is as much as the theatre is willing to reveal in advance.

   Sân khấu Quốc Thảo has been running since 2017 with two jobs side by side: staging productions and training actors. Young performers share the boards here with established ones, which gives every production its own energy.

   If you want a compact mid-autumn outing that still keeps the fairy-tale mood for the whole family, put this one on your list.