A disturbing question remained as the curtain descended after Vietnam’s first National Traditional Cheo Festival held in 2001 in Halong City: “Will cheo actors and the art of cheo survive this gathering?” Watching five young actresses play Xuy Van, a classical character, might dispel worries about the future of cheo. Although senior actors’ experience is necessary, the continuity of cheo depends on a greater stage of characters and, of course, on more community support. To restore the traditional art of cheo, recent improvements have focused on theatrical facilities and training. Experienced artists have been encouraged to pass their knowledge and skill on to young actors.
The French dominated Vietnam from 1884 to 1945, causing the country to become increasingly westernized. Urbanization and industrialization also had an impact. Traditional cheo gradually fell out of favor with city dwellers, especially after the First World War. In order to survive, artists tried to reshape cheo. The cheo of Nguyen Huu Tien, for example, tended toward realism and imitated Western drama. Nguyen Dinh Nghi adapted his work on the basis of traditional cheo: nevertheless, in general cheo was fading.
After the August Revolution of 1945, the Government supported the recovery of Vietnamese traditions, including cheo. In 1957, a group of cheo researchers collected over 100 skits from artists in four traditional cheo centers of northern Vietnam: east (Thai Binh Province), west (Ha Tay Province), north (Bac Ninh Province), and south (Ha Nam Province). Their research and editing of traditional cheo plays achieved encouraging results. However, the modernization of rhea did not succeed in bringing the audiences back to the theatres.
According to cheo researcher Ha Van Cau, between 1959 and 1964, Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture held several workshops to restore classical cheo skits. Each workshop lasted from one to three months. After Renovation in 1986, competition from modern entertainment such as TV, radio, movies, and jazz created even more difficulties. Artists performed only extracts. “The future is very difficult to predict.” Duong Ngoc Duc said about reconstruction of the theatre. Mr. Duc is former General Secretary of the Association of Theatrical Artists. He added. “No one can ensure we will have regular audiences once the theatre is rebuilt.”
The success of the First National Traditional Cheo Festival in Halong challenges Mr. Duc’s fears, showing that cheo is still vital enough to attract audiences. Given the enthusiastic response in Halong, we can rest assured that Vietnam’s audiences still enjoy traditional cheo. The deceased playwright Tao Mat succeeded in modernizing cheo plays by reinterpreting the features of traditional rhea. Modern Vietnamese will discover two important elements in cheo: the depth of the Vietnamese soul and the social conduct of the traditional Vietnamese community.
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The Ministry of Culture and Information plans to hold cheo festivals every five years and to offer medals to actors or actresses rather than to award plays. But now more worries arise: According to Ha Van Cau’s Collection of Classical Cheo, there are only seven famous classical cheo plays. What’s more, a paradox exists as the art form is passed down. Senior actors are the trainers, yet some find it hard to recognize young talents and do not believe their young successors can portray the essence of cheo. And then, in a recent shift, formerly independent cheo groups have merged with dancing and spoken drama groups. “This tendency is inevitable,” Van Su, from the Department of Performing Arts in the Ministry of Culture and Information, said. “Theatres without a particular strength or a favorable neighborhood even the Hanoi-based Vietnam Cheo Theatre, the one best known in the country – can survive only by traveling like a mobile troupe of the past.” The Quang Ninh Cheo Troupe based near Halong Bay manages by singing quan ho folk songs and Chinese-language songs for tourists, mostly from neighboring China, instead of giving cheo shows. Some actors have quit the troupe to sing cheo for puppet shows at a beach park. As both the government and the community try to revive this art, cheo stages across the country will hopefully light up more regularly.
