Looking around the repertoire of stages in Ho Chi Minh City, you can see that almost every brand during this period has one or several old plays that are renewed and re-performed.

According to insiders, the trend of renewing old plays is not only due to the scarcity of new scripts, but also because some stages want to exploit plays that were once loved by audiences. One of the pioneering stages in renewing old scripts is Hoang Thai Thanh Stage, which plans to perform seasonally and a series of old plays are renewed for performance.

Stage 5B also strives to conquer audiences with carefully invested new scripts, along with some old popular plays that will be performed in new versions with new casts.

A scene from the play “Let's Love Each Other” - a new version of IDECAF Stage (Photo: IDECAF)

For the stage, re-staging old plays is considered a safe plan because it is mainly just a renewal on the old framework, plot, and characters that are already available. However, according to experts, this is a double-edged sword, because how to avoid falling into the situation of repeating the old script is a challenge. There have been some new versions of plays, but the main difference is in the creativity of the actors.

People's Artist Tran Minh Ngoc has re-produced the play "Cau Dong" or "A Stolen Life" with a new version, saying: "The new version is often better because it has been summarized through the interaction with the audience. The mark of the old script on the new version is decided by the actors."

Therefore, the audience comes to the new version of the play to see how the actors play the old role of a certain star, to see how they renew the character. Currently, Dai Nghia, Dinh Toan, Quang Thao, Thanh Thuy… are the actors that are loved by the audience because they transform very well into the old role but with the new version.

It can be seen that most of the old plays that are re-produced start from a high-quality, in-depth script that was meticulously crafted in the first version. The important thing about re-producing old plays is that the cast does not have to appear with the same old aura as their predecessors, but must have new creations so that the audience can receive new experiences.