Play «Song Trùng» (The Double)

   A father who shapes bonsai trains his son the same way, pruning off everything that does not fit. The boy runs away and walks straight into a man wearing his own face. That swap of identities carries an evening at a drama stage in Ho Chi Minh City: an evening about family, prejudice and the courage to look at yourself.

   The story is by Quoc Nguyen (Quốc Nguyễn), the stage version by Dinh Phong (Đình Phong), and the production is directed by Huu Quoc (Hữu Quốc), a People's Artist. Tran Ngoc Giau (Trần Ngọc Giàu) is the artistic advisor and Minh Nhi (Minh Nhí) the producer. Nhan grows up under the shadow of his father, who loves him but keeps bending him into shape. Unable to bear the beatings and the airlessness, Nhan leaves home and meets Nghia, a street tough whose face is identical to his own. The exchange of lives is not an escape but a way to grow up from the inside.

   The boldest choice is technical. Instead of the familiar trick of one actor in two roles, the director uses two different performers and relies on stage convention, meticulous make-up and lighting to make the audience accept them as twins. Thanh Nien, reviewing the show, describes a tight, driving rhythm that opens up now and then for laughter.

   The senior cast carries the night: Minh Nhi (Minh Nhí) plays with great restraint, dropping comic lines deadpan to balance the weight of the family tragedy; Binh Tinh (Bình Tinh) is torn between her own feelings and a stepmother's conscience; Ngoc Duyen (Ngọc Duyên) takes trauma all the way to madness. Around them the young performers, among them Vo Minh Khai (Võ Minh Khải), get real parts rather than walk-ons. Come if you like psychological drama and stories where care and control are one step apart.

   The venue has a story of its own. It carries the real name of its founder, opened in December 2022 on the site of the Vườn Lài stage that had stood empty for years, and doubles as his acting school on nights without a show. Song Trùng premiered on 24 April 2026 and has stayed on the schedule since.

   The play is performed in Vietnamese.

   A solid evening of Vietnamese spoken theatre, and a chance to see it the way local audiences do.