The Vietnam Circus Federation has recently introduced to the public, a circus play entitled ‘Flame of Love in the Plateau’. Through the language of the circus, combined with many other art forms, the play creates a cultural space imbued with the identities of the Central Highlands region.
An extract from the play Scenes from the circus play ‘Flame of Love in the Plateau’. (Photo: thethaovanhoa.vn)
The play was staged by Nguyen Ngoc Anh – winner of the Best Stage Director Award at the 2022 International Circus Festival, and scripted by People’s Artist Ta Duy Anh.
With a duration of more than an hour, the play is staged as an interesting art tour, allowing the audience to discover the cultural colours of the Central Highlands, through the reproduction of communal houses, sculptures at tombs, gong performances, folk dances, and typical rituals and festivals of the Central Highlanders.
The participating circus performers entertain the audience with movements of high difficulty such as acrobatics, aerial silks, slacklining, a ring of fire, and animal circus.
A gong performance featured in the play (Photo: anninhthudo.vn)
In particular, director Nguyen Ngoc Anh set up a big round stage in the centre and smaller stages on the rear left and right, thereby creating the majestic space of the Central Highlands.
The female director shared that, the team had spent a lot of time travelling to the Central Highlands region, to authentically and vividly reproduce a space imbued with the cultural features of the region.
Director Nguyen Ngoc Anh said that the team wants to attract the interest of the audience from different age groups, from children to students, from Vietnamese audiences to foreigners, who want to learn about Vietnamese culture.
Sharing his feeling about the performance, People's Artist Vu Ngoan Hop, Vice President of the Vietnam Circus Federation, shared that the play has affirmed the federation’s prestige as a national art unit, by successfully creating a performance, which is not only interesting in content but also in technical circus movements.
The ‘Flame of Love in the Plateau’ play has touched the hearts of the audience, by utilising artistic languages to honour the cultural beauty of ethnic groups and bringing impressive experiences to viewers.Meanwhile, Vu Minh Tra a 30-year-old audience member from Dong Da district, in Hanoi, said that she was extremely surprised and proud when the cultural background of the Central Highlands was recreated on the Hanoi stage.
“I was most impressed with the artists' performances with smoke and fire and their thrilling movements, especially acrobatic stunts,” she said, expressing her belief that the show will help to inspire the audience’s love for Vietnamese culture and circus art.
The heartfelt appreciation from experts and the audience proves that the ‘Flame of Love in the Plateau’ play has touched the hearts of the audience, by utilising artistic languages to honour the cultural beauty of ethnic groups and bringing impressive experiences to viewers.
Trang Anh - Translated by NDO
