Rediscovering the traces of ancient Cheo troupes

Preserving art at the Cheo ancestral temple of Khuoc village (Dong Hung). Photo: TU ANH

It can be understood that "ganh chèo" is a term used to refer to a group of people performing chèo, organized and maintained by a person, often called the chèo boss. In folklore, it has been called a guild, troupe, ban, hoi, to, doi... according to the way each locality calls it, in which the guild or troupe is a fairly common name. Many opinions have explained that the name of the chèo troupe is because when performing, people often have to carry their tools along. Calling a chèo guild is a general term for a group of people performing chèo as well as a guild of craftsmen, a guild of fishermen, a guild of traders, a guild of trumpeters... Calling it a chèo association is because it must be declared according to the form required by the authorities at that time. With large chèo troupes that perform far or near, there are often separate regulations (conventions). The "brand" of each troupe is often created from the plays associated with the name of the boss or of the talented actor who has created a unique mark in terms of singing and acting style. A strong Cheo troupe must have a pair of actors and a clown who sings well and acts well. In folk terms, “singing” includes “acting”. Saying “going to see a theater” means watching a performance, saying “going to a funeral” means going to perform at a place where there is a funeral.

The results of collecting and conducting fieldwork on ancient Cheo in Thai Binh by researchers show that before the August Revolution in 1945, in Thai Binh there were up to 46 Cheo troupes that used to practice Cheo in and outside the province, making a living by Cheo. These units were distributed in the province as follows: Vu Thu 13; Dong Hung 9; Hung Ha 8; Kien Xuong 6; Thai Thuy 4; Thai Binh city 4; Quynh Phu 2. According to the general trend, each boss who established a Cheo troupe initially gathered only a few actors and actresses to practice small plays to perform in the village. Later, when the troupe had the opportunity to gather forces and practice new plays, when the troupe had become famous, the village associations in the commune and district invited them to perform and they went out to the prefecture, district, and province to practice their profession. The large Cheo troupes often had their own "performance space" at some village associations in and outside the province. For example, the Cheo troupes in the Sao Den Cheo region often perform at the Sao Den Festival, Keo Pagoda Festival, Lo Festival, Lang Festival, Mua Pagoda Festival... which are large festivals, now in Vu Thu District. The Cheo troupes in the Ha Cheo region often perform at Duong Xa Village Festival, Hoi Village Festival... now in Hung Ha District. The Cheo troupes in Kien Xuong often stay at Dong Xam Temple Festival, Vu Lang Village Festival, Lai Tri Village Festival, Thuong Phuc Village Festival, Mo Dao Temple Festival... The Cheo troupes in the Khuoc Cheo region also started from the performance grounds of their village festivals and village festivals in the commune and district and gradually expanded to large festivals that could perform for several nights in a row outside the prefecture and district such as Mien Village Festival, Long Khe Village Festival, Phung Cong Village Festival, Dong Bang Temple Festival, now in Quynh Phu District... Some famous troupes in Thai Binh have performed for long periods in other provinces. The troupes in the Ha Xa (Hung Ha) region often go to perform in Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Hai Phong. Troupes from Sao Den (Vu Thu) often go to perform in Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, sometimes even Ha Dong, Son Tay, Mong Cai... The Cheo troupes from Khuoc village have left their mark in many places such as Hanoi, Ha Dong, Bac Ninh, Hai Phong, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Hoa Binh, some of which have performed many nights at San Nhien Dai theater in Hanoi...

The scale of organization and the way of doing business of each troupe are different. When a troupe is first established, the leader takes care of all the expenses for inviting teachers, feeding everyone to practice, costumes, and props for each role. When going to a funeral, if any money is earned, it is deducted for miscellaneous expenses along the way, and the leader divides the rest among everyone. There are also quite a few troupes that are family-oriented, amateur, and come to practice, the leader takes care of drinking water, cigarettes, and sometimes a pot of porridge or a pot of sweet soup to nourish the teachers. When going to a funeral, there is money to deduct or not to deduct, it is okay.

Regarding makeup, artists often use chalk, which is white clay crushed into small pieces, sifted to get powder or stirred into water, filtered carefully and dried into fine powder, applied to lips, rubbed cheeks with boiled water from some aromatic plants called water lotus or moist paper. Regarding lighting at night, in small groups there are usually only a few plates of peanut oil lamps, in the communal house yard at night with many spectators there are usually a few torches, large candles soaked in salt for a long time to burn slowly, when rich people use a few kerosene lamps... The performance stage of most old opera troupes is usually a mat spread in front of the yard, surrounded by spectators on three sides, without decorative scenery. That is the biggest difference between folk Cheo and modern Cheo.

In the early decades of the 20th century, in addition to the three famous Cheo villages of Ha Xa, Khuoc, Sao Den with their traditional Cheo troupes, there were also Cheo troupes that were passed down by the people such as: Tong Van, Bo Xuyen, Lac Dao, Ky Ba, Doan Tuc, now in Thai Binh city. Thanh Ne, An Co, Dong Xam, Thuong Phuc, Luat Noi, Luat Ngoai, Dong Vang, Dong Trung, now in Kien Xuong district. Thuan An, Kieu Than, Nguyet Lang, Dong Dai, La Uyen, Huyen Sy, now in Vu Thu district. Thuong Liet, Thuong Tam, Lich Dong, Nguyen Xa, Tang, Pham, Khuoc, Tuoc..., now in Dong Hung district. Thuy Ha, Thuy Phong, Thuy Hong, Thai Giang, Thai Son, Thai Phuc communes of Thai Thuy district. An Le, An Vu, Quynh Hai communes of Quynh Phu district...

In the first half of the 20th century, theater troupes that wanted to make a living had to perform both Cheo and Tuong. At the request of the audience at the place where the troupe went, the artists often "picked out" short stories (now often called excerpts) such as Thi Mau went to the pagoda, Suy Van pretended to be crazy, Phu Thu Co Dong, Thay soi... In a troupe, there were usually people who were good at Cheo singing, people who were good at Tuong singing or skilled at playing some Cheo or Tuong roles so that after watching the performance, the whole village would remember it forever, one village would tell another village, and the next time the village held a party, they would remember to invite the troupe. Usually, a small troupe had about 7-8 people, a large troupe had about 12-15 people. At its peak, the troupe of Mr. Tong To in Sao Den village had more than 20 people. Most troupes had both men and women, but there were also troupes that were all men. The men had to divide themselves into all kinds of roles, from male to old, from female to old woman, regardless of ripe, crooked, straight, sour, sweet, crazy; those with a sense of humor played the clown. The reason why there was an all-male troupe was because the boss wanted to keep it to himself, to avoid being criticized by his wife, children and the village, so he did not choose women to join the troupe, also because it would take several months to return from a long trip, and it was inconvenient for women and girls to go with him...

Usually, the actors and actresses who join the troupe are still "based on agriculture". During the crop season, they often stay in their hometowns to take care of planting and harvesting. On the other hand, most villages usually have festivals on the days when farming is free, following the cycle of the two rice crops. When the farming work is finished, the boss informs them to gather together, practice roughly, agree on the schedule, and then set off. Many times, they practice along the way. Usually, at night they perform old acts, and during the day they practice new acts to enrich the troupe's repertoire. When performing, the troupe members often have to carry their own belongings, in addition to their personal belongings, they also have to bring costumes, musical instruments, props, and the troupe's backdrop. In addition, they also have to carry a variety of things for daily life such as betel and areca nuts, tobacco, white wine, and sometimes they have to bring rice, dried foods such as sesame, peanuts, fish sauce, and salt to reduce expenses in a foreign land.

In addition to singing at village festivals, troupes are often invited to perform funerals of wealthy families to perform rituals such as summoning spirits, leading souls, singing and dancing to open the coffin, covering graves, counting graces, and rowing boats. Wealthy families often hold funerals for several days, and people from the village and beyond flock to watch.

Since the famine of 1945, most villages inside and outside the province have not had the conditions to hold village festivals. Cheo troupes could not operate and gradually disbanded.

Master NGUYEN TO LICH
(Thai Binh College of Culture and Arts)

Source: https://baothaibinh.com.vn/tin-tuc/19/219073/tim-lai-dau-an-cac-ganh-cheo-xua