The attention to preserving relics has helped many communal houses in Da Nang to be restored and kept almost intact. In order for village communal houses to truly become places for regular community activities of the people, bringing ‘Tuong’ (classical drama) performances at village communal houses contributes to creating conditions for this unique traditional art form to be closer to the public. ‘Tuong’ is a unique Vietnamese theatrical genre that developed from a folk art into a royal art in the 17th century.

Artists from Nguyen Hien Dinh ‘Tuong’ Theater perform the programme ‘New Tuong Culture and Art’ at the Hoa My village communal house. Photo: DOAN HAO LUONG

Creating new breeze for communal houses

In order to popularise the art form of ‘Tuong’, a group of students who love ‘Tuong’ art from FPT Polytechnic College in Da Nang, in collaboration with Da Nang-located Nguyen Hien Dinh ‘Tuong’ Theater, brought this art form to perform at Hoa My village communal house, Hoa Minh Ward, Lien Chieu District, through the performance programme ‘Tuong New Culture and Art’, attracting many people to enjoy.

With more than 30 years of taking care of the village communal house, Mr. Phan Minh Quy, Head of the Council of the Clans of Hoa My village, said that in Hoa Minh Ward, there are currently four communal houses including Hoa My, Hoa Phu, Trung Nghia, and Phuoc Ly.

These village communal houses take turns organising the village festival every four years. During the communal house festival, the communal house sometimes invites artistes from the Nguyen Hien Dinh ‘Tuong’ Theater to perform ‘Tuong’ plays serving the public. However, the village festival only happens once a year, so people rarely have the opportunity to enjoy ‘Tuong’ performances.

"The number of elderly people who know about ‘Tuong’ is decreasing, while the young generation has less opportunity to access traditional culture. Introducing ‘Tuong’ performances at the village communal house creates joy for the people after hard working days. In particular, ‘Tuong’ scripts demonstrate a high educational value, thereby teaching children to remember their ancestors and their roots," Mr. Quy shared.

Not only the people of Hoa My village, many from other places are also eager to watch this unique traditional art form. Nguyen Phuoc Quy Ngan, a student of class PR18301, FPT Polytechnic College, Da Nang, said: “This programme is very meaningful because it helps us understand more about the art of ‘Tuong’. Through enjoying the ‘Tuong’ play ‘Hon vong phu’ and watching the ‘Tuong’ character cosplay performance, it has further fostered our love for our homeland and country”.

Talking about bringing the ‘Tuong’ programme at Hoa My village communal house, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, the Deputy Director in charge of the Nguyen Hien Dinh ‘Tuong’ Theater, said: “We are very happy that young people have fallen in love with the art of ‘Tuong’. More than 300 young audiences were present to enthusiastically cheer for the performance, giving us more confidence in the development of the art form of Tuong in the future”.

Targeting a wide audience

To preserve and promote the value of ‘Tuong’ art, in addition to bringing ‘Tuong’ art to village communal houses on the occasion of festivals, since 2016, the Nguyen Hien Dinh ‘Tuong’ Theater has cooperated with many educational institutions in the city to organise the programme ‘Bringing Tuong to Schools’ to introduce the traditional performing art to students.

In addition, the Nguyen Hien Dinh ‘Tuong’ Theater also brings the troupe to perform in rural areas in Hoa Vang District in Da Nang and districts of neighbouring Quang Nam Province to spread the love of ‘Tuong’ art to the public, especially young audiences.

In addition, the city also runs a programme ‘Tuong Street Performances’ as a way to preserve a unique feature in modern life. In particular, since 2022, the theater has maintained ‘Tuong’ performances for tourists arriving at the Da Nang International Airport with the programme ‘Heritage Road’.

In this programme, ‘Tuong’ performances were also introduced, creating a good impression on international tourists and foreign news agencies. Following the effectiveness of the programme, hotels in Da Nang organise Tuong shows performed by artistes from the Nguyen Hien Dinh ‘Tuong’ Theater to serve tourists staying here.

Traditional staging art, ‘Tuong’ art in particular, is facing many difficulties at present, especially ‘Tuong’ art which requires the audience to have a certain understanding of it, while those who approach and watch ‘Tuong’ regularly are getting older.

Therefore, in addition to serving tourists and audiences at the theater, it is high time for the Nguyen Hien Dinh ‘Tuong’ Theater to reach out to many audiences, especially people in residential areas around village communal houses and young people as a step to form a new wave of audiences, thereby bringing this traditional art form to a wider audience.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG - Translating by A.THU