Spreading the art of hát bội in community life

Bustling opera

At Hanh Phu Temple (An Phu Dong Ward, District 12, Ho Chi Minh City) on the evening of March 15 (ie the 15th day of the 2nd lunar month), young artists and actors of the Ho Chi Minh City Hat Boi Art Theater were present very early to prepare for the Ky Yen ceremony. After the ritual activities, at 11 pm, the Hat Boi artists began to perform with the familiar performance Ngoc Huynh Lan xuat the.

The play did not end until 3am, some artists stayed behind to find a place to rest temporarily in the communal house to prepare for the performance at 8am. Others hurriedly got on the bus to Dinh Xom Hue (Tan An Hoi commune, Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City) to prepare for the morning performance there. Although tiring, for the opera artists, this is the happiest season of the year when they can work in such a vibrant way and perform continuously.

Hat Boi artist Ngoc Giau shared: “In the past 10 years, Hat Boi activities have somewhat improved, partly thanks to performances on holidays such as Ky Yen. Thanks to these programs, the entire play is performed, not just a few scenes or excerpts as usual, helping artists to effectively practice their craft, improve their expertise, and develop their talents and strengths.”

Following the artists performing on this occasion, there are also groups of students from many universities. These are students who love, are researching and learning about the traditional art form of hát bội. For them, watching hát bội is not only to serve their learning needs but more importantly to learn and find ways to promote the cultural values ​​and beauty of hát bội in today's artistic life.

Phan Nguyen Thuy Duong, a third-year student at the Faculty of Public Relations and Communications at Van Lang University, said: “I have been following troupes and learning about hát bội for more than 3 years now. The trips to perform with the artists have helped me learn many things. I have participated in many performances so I have gradually become familiar with the artists and have been taught a lot of useful knowledge about hát bội by the artists.”

Hat Boi to schools, tourist attractions

Students of Hoang Van Thu Primary School (Go Vap District) were excited to see the play Tran Hung Dao Ra Quan performed by young artists and actors from the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House.

On the morning of March 20, at Hoang Van Thu Primary School (Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City), artists from the Ho Chi Minh City Hat Boi Art Theater had an interesting school stage performance for nearly 1,500 students of all grades. The exchange program provided basic knowledge of Hat Boi art for students, performed excerpts from Tran Hung Dao Ra Quan, Vo Thi Sau... which are Vietnamese historical stories that students have read, learned and known through books, now approached through a lively and attractive stage performance.

Bringing hát bội to schools is one of the efforts of the Ho Chi Minh City hát bội theater in collaboration with units and schools to introduce to students a beautiful traditional culture of the nation. To create closeness, the theater has staged many short excerpts about historical figures that students have learned about in school such as Trần Quốc Toản, Hero Trần Bình Trọng, Hai Bà Trưng, ​​Bà Triệu, Lê Văn Duyệt, Đặng Đại Độ, Trần Hưng Đạo... and recently started to stage more modern historical figures, starting with an excerpt about the heroine Võ Thị Sáu.

In particular, recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House has collaborated with Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (District 3) to implement the project "Integrating Literature - Local Education and Career Guidance Experience" with the theme Continuing the Quintessence. With this project, after the selection round, 10 students who love the performing arts and have the ability to perform were selected to participate in a 10-session training course at the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House, held every Sunday morning.

Artist Nguyen Thanh Binh, Head of the Performance Organization Department, Ho Chi Minh City Opera House, said: “This is one of the effective methods, gradually contributing to building a team of audiences for opera, from which we can also find a source of successor opera artists. In the near future, the Opera House will also cooperate with international schools, public schools, etc. to expand projects of this type.”

In addition, the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House has also introduced this art form to serve tourists. Recently, the theater has collaborated with Dot Bar (a bar in District 1) to perform 30-minute excerpts of plays, introducing international visitors to traditional dance forms, masks, and costumes, helping international visitors understand a bit about Vietnam's traditional cultural art.

In the near future, the Theater will coordinate with the Center for Performing Arts and Cinema of Ho Chi Minh City to carry out the tourist stage program Sac An Ngoc Nam Phuong, expected to serve tourists periodically at the City Theater.

THUY BINH