One of Vietnam's oldest performing arts is stepping out of its theatre and into the open air. The Ho Chi Minh City Hát Bội Theatre has been staging regular public performances of hát bội — a classical form of Vietnamese drama combining song, dance, mime and elaborate face paint — at some of the city's most visited spots, in a bid to win back audiences for a tradition many younger Vietnamese have never seen live.

So far this year the theatre has put on around 20 shows, with venues chosen for foot traffic rather than tradition. They include Nguyễn Văn Bình Street, better known as Book Street, in the downtown core; the Hùng Kings Temple inside the Sài Gòn Zoo and Botanical Gardens; and the Lê Văn Duyệt Tomb. The idea, according to Nguyễn Thanh Bình, the artist who heads the theatre's performance organisation department, is simple: bring the art to the people instead of waiting for people to come to the art.

The outreach goes beyond street shows. Earlier this month the theatre teamed up with Nguyễn Khuyến High School for a programme called 'Experiencing Hát Bội with Traditional Music'. After watching excerpts, students quizzed the artists on the form's history and techniques, tried dance moves on stage, learned about the makeup, and got a lesson in reading the characters — including how masks signal who is good, who is bad and who is downright evil. Recent staged excerpts have included plays about the hero Trần Bình Trọng and the revolutionary figure Võ Thị Sáu.

The strategy appears to be working. The theatre reports noticeably growing audience engagement, and its performance schedules are now closely followed on Facebook — by Vietnamese viewers and, notably, by international travellers too. Anyone visiting Ho Chi Minh City can check the Facebook pages of the Hát Bội Theatre or Book Street to see when the next show is on. With backing from the city's Department of Culture and Sports, the programme is set to continue.

For travellers, this is a rare, accessible way to see a centuries-old art form that predates much of Vietnam's modern cultural life — no ticketed gala required, and often for free in a public square. Catch a show on Book Street and you can browse the secondhand bookstalls, grab a coffee and watch painted warriors, heroines and villains come to life a few metres away. It also pairs neatly with a wander around the historic Lê Văn Duyệt Tomb or a morning at the zoo and botanical gardens, both of which double as performance venues. If you're in town and curious about Vietnamese culture beyond street food and markets, keep an eye on the schedule — a three-minute excerpt might just turn into your trip's best story.