Ngoc Nhan, artist of Dao Tan tuong theatre.

The traditional tuong (Vietnamese classical opera) festival will be organised from July 25-30 in Binh Dinh central province with the participation of seven theatres with eight plays.

This is the first festival for traditional tuong art and particularly, it is held in the cradle of the art, Binh Dinh province.

According to Professor Hoang Chuong, member of the tuong festival’s steering board, though the festival is not periodical but it is well prepared.

The festival will focus on traditional plays which is considered a challenge for artists, particularly young ones. Recently, they have only staged plays with historical and contemporary themes while traditional plays are only preserved in files in museums.

Professor Hoang Chuong.

Professor Hoang Chuong also held that classical tuong is special as it has been existed for hundreds of years. Most of them feature the struggle between the good and the evil and the good will end up winning over the evil.

“Acting in classical plays, artists must be very skillful in complicated dances and traditional martial art while singing and playing the flute. Traditional tuong art is seen as the most professional opera stage in Vietnam, being able to be compared with Chinese opera theatre or Noh art of Japan,” said Hoang Chuong.

The traditional tuong festival this time is seen as an effort to preserve the art which is now rarely seen on stage as well as on television.

The tuong festival is one of the main activities of the Tay Son – Binh Dinh festival which will be held from August 1-8 with various activities such as incense offering ritual, lantern night, poem recital,  Miss Martial Arts and Vietnam traditional martial arts festival.

(Sports and Culture newspaper)