Cheo hasn’t always been as popular as it was at the First National Traditional Cheo Festival, held in Halong City, Quang Ninh Province from October 15-23, 2001. Over 700 artists from fourteen Cheo companies attended, performing fifteen plays among them.
Even though the quality of life in Vietnam has improved since Renovation began in 1986 traditional art in general and Cheo in particular have met indifference and have failed to compete with more popular entertainments such as Western music and TV. Cheo performances in the cities have often played to empty houses. Reduced box office revenues forced managers to trim the plays to only excerpts. Even villages where Cheo originated were unable to attract audiences. Young people, especially those in the cities turned their backs on the art form.
The situation was so critical that the Halong City festival organizers weren’t expecting to attract much interest. They were in for a big surprise.
So why was the festival so successful? One reason seems to be because the festival returned to the origins of Cheo. Artists performed only traditional, authentic Cheo . The programmer included no modernized plays. The festival also provided an opportunity for those involved to review and assess Vietnam’s classical Cheo plays through edited and adapted versions and then decide which elements to preserve and which to let go. The intent was to perform traditional cheo yet ensure that the performance related as appropriately as possible to contemporary Vietnamese life.
