One of Hồ Chí Minh City’s leading theatre institutions, Small Stage Drama Theatre traces its origins back to the early 1980s when a group of young southern theatre practitioners set up the Director’s Club (Câu lạc bộ đạo diễn) with the aim of working together as directors, writers and managers. The Club was subsequently offered a home by the Hồ Chí Minh City Stage Association (Hội Sân khấu Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh) at 5B Võ Văn Tần Street, and in 1984 a 200-seat theatre was opened at this address under the name 5B Võ Văn Tần Experimental Stage Club (Câu lạc bộ Sân khấu Thể nghiệm 5B Võ Văn Tần, fore-runner of today’s ‘Small Stage’ Nhà hát Kịch Sân khấu Nhỏ). Thereafter the club organised two highly successful experimental theatre festivals (1989 and 1993) at which a many new local and foreign plays were staged. In 1997 the club became the Small Stage Drama Theatre (Nhà hát Kịch Sân khấu Nhỏ). Since its inception Small Stage has played a crucially important role in the development of theatre in the southern capital, pushing back the boundaries of theatre art and influencing the establishment of numerous other popular mini-theatres such as the Institut d’échange culturel avec la France (IDECAF) Salle de spectacles and Sài Gòn Theatre. Performing on a weekly basis, it is now one of the most successful theatre companies in Hồ Chí Minh City. Over the years scores of different theatre styles have been staged here, attracting large audiences of predominantly young people. Small Stage runs an active arts education programme with a focus on university students. In 2001 it opened a second stage, Phú Nhuận Drama Theatre (Sân khấu kịch Phú Nhuận) at Phú Nhuận District Cultural Centre in Hồ Chí Minh City, where plays are also presented on a weekly basis. The company currently comprises 56 actors and actresses and has participated in cultural exchange programmes with many foreign countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Cuba, China, Russia and the USA.