Decree 261/2026/ND-CP stipulating professional preferential allowances, training and performance allowance regimes for officials and employees in public performing arts units has been positively received by many artists.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Meritorious Artist Trinh Mai Nguyen - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Drama Theater said that immediately after the decree was disseminated, most artists of the theater were very excited.
Actress Ho Lien (Vietnam Drama Theater) once said that before implementing Decree 261, supporting role actors were only compensated about 70,000-100,000 VND per performance, and main roles were about 150,000-200,000 VND.
To be honest, the tips for each performance night are often not enough for artists to refuel and eat a bowl of pho in the evening. From my house to the theater is quite far, if I refuel for 100,000 VND, eat an extra bowl of pho for 50,000 VND, I will have a negative fee when I only receive 70,000-80,000 VND in tips for supporting roles," the actress shared.
According to artist Ho Lien, market prices fluctuate every day, but the salaries and allowances of stage artists have been almost stagnant for nearly 20 years.
The adjustment according to Decree 261 is therefore seen by many artists as a timely encouragement, contributing to improving income and creating more motivation to continue to stick with the stage.
However, the new policy is only applied to public employees. What worries the Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Drama Theatre the most is the lives of young actors.
In recent years, many students of the University of Theater and Cinema have graduated but have not been recruited as public employees, so the theater does not have a mechanism, nor does it have enough funds to pay stable salaries. Most of you have been attached for a while and then cannot survive," said Mr. Mai Nguyen.
He said that actors with families in Hanoi or better economic conditions can continue to pursue the profession. Meanwhile, actors from other provinces have to rent houses, pay for travel and accommodation, so the economic pressure is very high.
Besides the income problem of artists, the implementation of Decree 261 also poses many difficulties for art units.
According to Meritorious Artist Trinh Mai Nguyen, for programs using state budget, the theater will implement them in accordance with regulations. However, for self-financing performances, revenue from ticket sales is often not enough to pay according to the new allowance level.
For self-financing performances, revenue cannot be enough to pay according to Decree 261. Therefore, we are developing internal spending regulations to try to implement the decree. However, for performances that cannot sell tickets or revenue is not enough, we must also accept spending according to reality," he said.
