Conventionality in Vietnamese traditional theater

Báo Bình Định•06/04/2023

Ultimately, every art form has a degree of convention, differing only in the level of convention, whether it's high or low, strong or weak. Unlike many other art forms, traditional Vietnamese opera (Tuong) has a very high degree of convention, which creates the great, core values of this art form.

Conventions in Vietnamese traditional theater (tuong) are employed through the manipulation of space and time. Spatial conventions take many forms. Firstly, they are achieved through the characters' narration. For example, in tuong theater, to depict a journey of thousands of miles from the royal court to a distant border, the actor only needs to walk a few laps around the stage and then use spoken words to describe their arrival. Alternatively, through the characters' narration combined with movements such as walking, standing, sitting, dancing, and acting within a few dozen square meters of the stage, the audience can imagine a vast expanse of sky, clouds, mountains, and ravines…

The character Zhou Yu in the excerpt "Two Spirits of Zhou Yu". Photo: NTH

Furthermore, movement is used to symbolize space. In traditional Vietnamese opera (tuong), actors sing "the words go with the movements." Therefore, when they use the character's narration to create a symbolic representation of space, they must combine it with appropriate dance movements that match the lyrics, circumstances, and character's personality. For example, in the opera "Ho Sanh Dan," the scene where Tiet Cuong meets Lan Anh on the way back to the mountain camp, along a high mountain pass with deep, thorny ravines, is challenging. Tiet Cuong dismounts, uses his axe to clear the path, and walks with Lan Anh. He guides his wife across streams only in the actor's imagination, and through symbolic movements, the audience still empathizes with the character, believing the road is difficult and the streams are treacherous. Through the actors' expressive and skillful performances, a vivid scene is created, resonating with the audience because of the ability to generalize life with the symbolic nature of traditional Vietnamese opera. This shows that the high degree of symbolism is a very unique feature of traditional Vietnamese opera.

In Tuong (Vietnamese classical opera), actors often use props to create a sense of space, stimulating the audience's imagination about the character's actions. For example, with just a horse whip in hand and appropriate movements from the actor, the audience can feel and visualize the character mounting a horse, riding leisurely, galloping over mountain passes or streams, or expressing the horse's joy, sadness, victory, or defeat. This symbolic effect is also evident in movements such as rowing a boat or opening and closing a door. Through a wooden oar in hand, combined with the actor's swaying and bobbing movements, the audience witnesses the character rowing a boat or navigating rapids.

The conventions regarding the use of props are also evident in banquets, whether large or small, always using only one table with a wine jug and wooden cups. That's all, but through the conventional techniques in Vietnamese traditional theater, the artist fully expresses the mood and character of the person. The conventions regarding space through the use of props make storytelling on stage incredibly vivid, engaging, and highly generalized.

The conventions of time also take different forms. Through this convention, a Tuong play, a story spanning several days, months, or even years, is condensed into just a few lines of dialogue or songs to represent the passage of time for the actors. Not only using songs and dialogue, Tuong art also uses acting movements to symbolize time. In the play "Son Hau ," there is a scene where Dong Kim Lan escorts the Prince to safety in the dark, crossing treacherous mountains. At that time, Khuong Linh Ta (Dong Kim Lan's close friend who had been killed by the enemy) appears as a lamp to guide his friend and the Prince through the hardship. When a rooster crows in the backstage area, Kim Lan is overjoyed because dawn has broken and the danger is over. Through the actors' skillful performances, depicting the difficult and arduous journey of fleeing from the enemy throughout the night in the deserted forest—such as carrying a wounded soldier, cradling the prince, sitting, lifting, and carrying him—the audience can also clearly perceive and feel the passage of time from night to morning and understand the characters' emotions in the face of changing external circumstances.

The conventional nature of Vietnamese opera is also used as a means to simplify the external form and focus on depicting the inner feelings and emotions of the characters. For example, the scene of Zhang Fei drinking wine (in the opera Co Thanh ) aims to portray the anger, resentment, and suffering of a straightforward and hot-tempered man facing what he mistakenly believes to be the surrender of his sworn brother Guan Yu to the enemy.

In short, convention is one of the three typical characteristics of Tuong (traditional Vietnamese opera) art (convention, stylization, symbolism) that are frequently used on stage. Conventions regarding space and time are a "fertile ground" for actors to showcase their skills and enrich their methods of character portrayal, contributing to making the stage closer to life at a high level of generalization.

NGUYEN THUY HUONG

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