Play «Kỳ Án 292» (Mystery Case 292)

   An investigation built around the one date that comes round every four years — 29 February. That premise grew into a detective play that has held its place in the repertoire of a long-running private drama company in Ho Chi Minh City for more than a decade, and it still manages to unnerve a room and make it laugh in the same evening.

   The number in the title is that date: 29/2. In 2014 a young director, Diep Tien (Diệp Tiên), took the idea of the calendar's extra day to the company and wrote the script with his colleague Dinh Manh Phuc (Đinh Mạnh Phúc). The play became one of the stage's box-office hits, went through several versions over the years, and came back a decade later reworked for a contemporary audience and moved to a new hall.

   What is worth knowing before you go:

• — Artistic consultant on the production is Hong Van (Hồng Vân), a People's Artist of Vietnam and the stage's namesake.
• — The cast: Hoa Hiep (Hòa Hiệp), Dinh Manh Phuc (Đinh Mạnh Phúc), Bui Cong Danh (Bùi Công Danh), Tran Phan Hoang Yen (Trần Phan Hoàng Yến), Truc Anh (Trúc Anh), Tuan Dung (Tuấn Dũng), Minh Nga, Le Nguyen Tuan Anh (Lê Nguyễn Tuấn Anh), Hoang Khoi (Hoàng Khôi), Lac Hoang Long (Lạc Hoàng Long).
• — Set design and construction by VYTM; production director Le Tuan Anh (Lê Tuấn Anh).
• — Genre: a criminal investigation carried alongside a romance and a steady run of comic scenes.

   This is a workable entry point if you have been curious about Vietnamese spoken theatre (kịch nói) but were not sure where to start. A crime, a set of clues and a room full of suspects is a structure you can follow without local background, and the tonal swings — silence, then laughter a few minutes later — carry a lot of the evening on their own.

   The venue is not a free-standing theatre. The company performs inside the Student Cultural House in central Ho Chi Minh City, so look for that building rather than a separate theatre facade.

   The date on sale is Saturday, 19 September 2026: one evening performance, from 19:30 to 21:30. It is the only date open for booking at the moment — the theatre has not announced any later performance of this play.

   One practical point about tickets: they come in one seating zone, the stalls (TRỆT), and the exact seat is not assigned at checkout — after payment you call the theatre's hotline to pick it, on a dedicated second line, 0828 521 252.

   The play is performed in Vietnamese.

   If you like a detective story that keeps its tension and still lands its jokes, book early — for now there is a single evening on the calendar.