While the genres of national theatre are fading due to the prevalence of the contemporary arts, people still respect an old man who has a passion for and is devoted to ancient Tuong (classical drama), an art on the verge of falling into oblivion. It is Professor Hoang Chuong, a leading expert in Vietnamese Tuong.
I became familiar with Prof. Hoang Chuong in the last years of the 1990s when he held the post of Director of Vietnam Institute of Theatre. He used to attend the discussions or seminars on renewing the traditional theatre, where he talked passionately about the art of Tuong, especially the ancient Tuong.
More than ten years have passed, but his passion for the Tuong art remains unchanged. Talking with us for a while, he stood up to apply a fake beard, used for Tuong performance, to his face and began to perform the extract of Truong Phi getting drunk. Seeing his glaring eyes, his hands stroking the beard and his furious voice while playing the role of the character, I understood his great love for the Tuong.
Talking about the Tuong art, it is impossible not to mention the great contributions Prof. Hoang Chuong has made to it. Apart from staging dozens of Tuong plays and dramas, many of which have been awarded gold and silver medals at national theatrical festivals, Prof. Hoang Chuong has researched, collected and compiled over 20 projects on traditional theatrical issues, including such renowned projects as “Tuong and Binh Dinh martial arts”, “Binh Dinh folk tales and songs” and “Traditional theatrical issues”. He also has deeply researched many issues relating to traditional theatre, such as reformed theatre, love duet songs, traditional operetta and water puppetry.
In an interview given to the press, Prof. Hoang Chuong said painfully that today, Tuong has been dramatized and the artists need more training regarding the singing, abiding to the rules of performing the traditional Tuong. He said that performing Tuong plays, the artists must sing with their heart, not with shouts and cries as some actors often do. Only do that they can preserve the Vietnamese Tuong art.
Though retired, Prof. Hoang Chuong still works to restore the images of Tuong in particular and traditional theatre in general. Recently, with the assistance of his friends and the State, he established the Centre for Research, Preservation and Development of National Culture, to realize his dream.
Professor Hoang Chuong was born in 1936 in Hoai An District, Binh Dinh Province. He starts his career from the Zone 5 Tuong Troupe, present-day Dao Tan Tuong Theatre. Later, he was assigned to take the post of Director of Vietnam Institute of Theatre. Now he is General Director of the Centre for Research, Preservation and Development of National Culture, cum Chairman of Culture Magazine.
The Centre has mobilized many leading cultural researchers and intellectuals to join efforts to research, preserve and develop the national cultural treasure. He also spends much time implementing other cultural projects. Most notably, he succeeded in calling for adding the Tuong and traditional theatre to the teaching programmes at schools with the aim of making young generations love the cultural treasure of ancestors.
Recognizing his heart and morals, his friends and relatives have more love and respect for him, a man who has devoted his life for the Vietnamese theatre.
