Doctor Chua Soo Pong from Singapore guides Vietnamese artists how to act in the play Duoi Bong Da Huyen Thoai (Under the Legendary Banyan Tree). — Photo i.ytimg.com In May, Vietnam’s Tuong Theatre worked with Doctor Chua Soo Pong from Singaporeto create Duoi Bong Da Huyen Thoai (Under the Legendary Banyan Tree).It has been performed in Hanoi throughout this summer at Hong Ha Theatre(also known as Vietnam’s Tuong Theatre), at 51A Duong Thanh street.
This collaboration is part of the theatre’s efforts to increase culturalexchanges and to integrate with ASEAN countries as well as other countriesaround the world.
The script was written by Le The Song, inspired by Doctor Chua SooPong’s The Haunted Temple.
“It is a great honour to be invited by the Vietnam Tuong Theatre’s director PhamNgoc Tuan to stage The Legendary Banyan Tree. It was a rewardingexperience to work with distinguished artists of the theatre after watchingtheir performances for many years,” Dr Chua said.
“I really did not encounter any difficulty as the Tuong Theatre has awonderful team of artists who are dedicated and willing to put in extra hardwork to achieve artistic excellence. Tuong shares many aestheticprinciples of traditional theatre genres that I have worked with, like Chineseopera, Japanese kabuki, and Indonesian wayang wong. When Idemonstrate the movements desired for a particular scene, they immediatelyunderstand the quality of movements needed. And we refine them together,” hesaid.
“I hope that this play can also attract young public as it is staged in a newway,” he added.
The piece is a story about a thousand year old banyan tree which ispersonified, with its branches, leaves, and trunk having souls.
Dr Chua said that he has had long been passionate about tuong, inparticular after he watched Vietnam’s famed play Ngheu So Oc Hen (Oyster,Snail and Mussels), which was performed at China - ASEAN Theatre Festival in2016 in China.
“After I watched some performances of Vietnamese tuong artists, I seethat this art form can be easily integrated with the international stage, frommusic, dancing to the way the actors express their feelings through theirfacial expression and gestures.”
“I saw that the public from different countries including China, Thailand,Myanmar and Indonesia were excited to watch the Vietnam’s play Ngheu So OcHen. They laughed at funny scenes in the show without understanding theconversation between characters.
They understood the show despite the language barrier. That’s why I had theidea to stage this new piece and to bring this magnificent art form of Vietnam tothe world,” he said.
Dr Chua completed his master’s and doctorate degrees in anthropology andethnomusicology in the UK. His works have been performed on nearly 80international stages in the world.-VNA
VNA
