New incentives add motivation
Decree No. 261/2026/ND-CP stipulates many levels of professional preferential allowances for civil servants and employees engaged in performing arts activities at public non-business units.
Depending on the type and professional position, the allowance level ranges from 20% to 60%. In parallel, the training and performance allowance regime is also adjusted in the direction of significantly increasing compared to before.
For traditional theater, this is a change that has been expected for many years.
Before the new decree was issued, the income of artists was still quite modest. According to records at many theaters, main actors only received about 200,000 VND for a performance, supporting roles about 160,000 VND, while the backstage force only received about 80,000 VND per session.
Many contract actors earn salaries from 3-5 million VND/month, forced to find extra jobs outside to cover living expenses.
According to NSND Le Tuan Cuong - Deputy Director in charge of the Vietnam National Traditional Theater, the new Decree has a greater meaning than the story of increasing income.
This is a push, an extremely timely encouragement for the young generation, and even older generations are less worried about food, clothing, and money so that they can rush into work.
I think this is a timely encouragement, a bright spot for them to be passionate about artistic activities, in fact, it also helps them a lot..." - People's Artist Tuan Cuong said.
According to him, for many years, traditional stage artists have been quietly working in the profession in conditions of income lower than many other art fields.
The new policy is therefore seen as a timely recognition for those who are preserving the types of Tuong, Cheo, Cai Luong, puppetry...
Currently, many art units have begun to disseminate the content of the decree to officials and employees to prepare for implementation.
The Deputy Director in charge of the Vietnam National Traditional Theater said that although it is still necessary to complete the implementation steps, the Government's issuance of the decree has created confidence for the artist team.
Keep people for the stage
Not only impacting veteran artists, Decree 261 is also expected to create attraction for young actors - those who face many income difficulties in their early years in the profession.
According to NSND Le Tuan Cuong, increasing allowances will help theaters have more basis to retain the next generation of artists.
The implementation of Decree 261 will be very good when they will receive a good treatment regime.
My point of view is that in all programs I support and mobilize young people to increase their living income. There is no program or performance that I do not allow young people to participate in, including contract actors. Only then will they have the motivation to strive.
However, along with the attention of the State, Mr. Cuong believes that practitioners also need to increase their responsibility.
When you are cared for by the Party and the State like that, you must cultivate your mind, virtue, and intelligence so that in the current development trend, in addition to being an artist spreading culture, you must also carry on yourself a baggage of someone who spreads and promotes culture. That is the precious thing," he said.
From a management perspective, People's Artist Le Tuan Cuong also emphasized the proactive role of art units in creating more jobs and increasing income for artists, instead of just relying on the budget.
In fact, training an actor takes many years to stand firm on stage. Without sufficiently attractive policies, the risk of a shortage of successor forces will become increasingly clear.
Therefore, Decree 261 not only solves the immediate income problem but is also expected to become a foundation for theaters to retain artists, attract young people and gradually improve the quality of performing arts activities.
