Đà Nẵng  – Nguyễn Hiển Dĩnh Theatre opened the annual National Classic Drama (Tuồng ) and Traditional Folk Opera Contest with a Tuồng performance: Như Những Tượng Đài (Living Statues), on Saturday night.

The 90-minute performance, by Nguyễn Sỹ Chức and director Đặng Bá Tài, retold an old story of immortal actors and actresses of the Liberated Army’s art troupe during the fiercest fighting during the American war in 1968.

It also depicted lives of actors and actresses who had contributed their performances and died for the country’s reunification.

The performance used traditional art and costumes to describe a modern story.

Deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vương Duy Biên, said the contest is an opportunity for traditional art troupes nationwide to share their experiences, skills and knowledge of preserving classic dramas in modern time.

“The annual rendezvous is an ideal meeting among actors, actresses and directors, after a year of hard work. New performances and new angles of traditional art, and new faces, come out of the creations of art troupes nationwide at the biggest contest of the year,” Biên said during the opening ceremony at the city’s Trưng Vương Theatre.

“We hope more outstanding shows would spark the development of traditional performances and attract young people to join the centuries-old art,” he said.

Nearly 700 artists and actors from 11 art troupes nationwide will stage 17 shows, of which 10 are classic dramas, in Đà Nẵng over nine days.

Gold medals will be awarded on August 29th to the best performances, actors, artists, directors and choreographers.

Shows will be staged at 9am and 8pm daily, and visitors can attend by obtaining free tickets.

Đà  Nẵng  is the first city to introduce Tuồng to the public and tourists, with outdoor performances held every Sunday night.

The dramas were introduced at some junior high schools as a pilot project to preserve the centuries-old art.

Last year, Tuồng Xứ Quảng (Quảng Nam’s classic drama) was recognised as a National Intangible Heritage.

The city also has a collection of 204 classical Tuồng scripts, written in Hán (Chinese script) and Vietnamese ideographic characters (Nôm), which were published between 1802-1845. — VNS