Street Play

This special folk stage is increasingly attracting locals and tourists thanks to the thorough investment and professional performances of artists from Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong Theater, contributing to bringing Tuong art closer to contemporary life and lighting up love for national cultural heritage.

Breathing life into ancient art in the heart of the city

Following the direction of the People's Committee of Da Nang City and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong Theater has created two unique art performance programs: Tuong in the street and Vietnamese traditional art , contributing to enriching the cultural life of the people as well as domestic and foreign tourists.

The shows are held at central locations such as the East bank of Tran Thi Ly Bridge, the West bank of Dragon Bridge and the East bank of Han River Bridge - vibrant spaces that are typical of Da Nang at night.

The Tuong stage is set up outdoors with a modern sound and lighting system, seats for the audience and an area to display Tuong masks and perform classical mask painting.

This place is like a living museum, with music , props and traditional costumes blending together, bringing a true artistic experience to audiences of all ages.

Tuong Xuong Pho consists of two main performances: The first part is excerpts of traditional Tuong with high artistic value, combined with light humorous acts, creating a close and accessible atmosphere for the audience.

Before each show, the Theater's orchestra performs traditional melodies to attract viewers and lead emotions into the artistic space. The rest are deep homeland melodies, interwoven with folk dance, Cham musical instruments, and folk songs of Region V - creating a colorful cultural program, imbued with the Central region.

In the middle of a youthful, dynamic city, Tuong in the street brings a nostalgic and powerful breath of the past, from the eager eyes of children when witnessing the unique art of makeup for the first time, to the emotions of the elderly when encountering a part of their childhood memories in each melody, each graceful movement of the Tuong artist...

Nguyen Ngoc Mai Anh, a student at Da Nang University, shared: “I accidentally “fell in love” with Tuong while walking along Tran Hung Dao Street. In the vibrant, modern space, the sound of Tuong singing was so special and impressive. I spent the whole evening watching it all and saw many young people stopping to listen like me.”

For Ms. Ngo Thi Hoa Cuc (Son Tra), watching Tuong was an emotional return: "In the past, my parents used to watch Tuong together. Now that my father has passed away, I take my mother to watch it again, as a way to reconnect her memories."

Programs like Tuong Xoi Pho are both artistic performances and creative efforts in the journey to preserve and revive traditional cultural values, where ancient art is not in museums, but comes alive every day in the heart of the city.

New source of life

Distilled from the quintessence of the nation, Tuong art is the crystallization of creative thinking and exemplary performing techniques of experienced artists. Tuong is famous for its formal, disciplined, and highly academic performance.

However, in the flow of modern culture, it is not easy for the general public to approach and fully appreciate the depth of this art form. Therefore, Tuong Xuong Pho was born not only with the mission of performance, but also as a strategy to nurture a new audience, especially the young, for Tuong art.

Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong Theater has flexibly selected short, easy-to-understand excerpts that are close to modern life, but still ensure to preserve the spirit and core values of the art form. The colorful costumes, masks, traditional props combined with the modern open stage have created a lively performance space that is easy to access for a large audience.

Since the beginning of 2025, the Theater has organized more than 10 Tuong street performances, each attracting 300-400 viewers on the main stage, contributing to a positive effect in both culture and communication.

The program received high praise from the audience and local authorities, becoming a typical model in bringing traditional art closer to the community.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoi An, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Da Nang commented: “The program has made a practical contribution to popularizing art to the public. This is a way for people to access culture without any cost, while creating an impressive space, attracting tourists when coming to Da Nang”...

The timing and location are also key factors to success. Each performance starts at 7:30 p.m., when locals and tourists begin to explore the city at night, and ends at 8:30 p.m., when the audience can move to the Dragon Bridge to enjoy the fire and water spraying performance typical of Da Nang. Thanks to that, Tuong Xuong Pho has become a special meeting point of the city on the Han River.

Not stopping there, Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong Theater is continuing to make efforts to renew the program content to suit the audience's taste. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Deputy Director of the Theater said: The unit will increase investment in new performances for two main programs: Tuong Xuong Pho and Vietnamese Traditional Arts.

In addition to improving the quality of exemplary excerpts, the Theater also focuses on solo performances, folk song ensembles and traditional musical instruments.

In particular, a series of activities spanning from April to September is being proposed to be held along both banks of the Han River, including: Tuong mask exhibition, Tuong art photo exhibition through the ages, mask painting performances on site and traditional costume and prop parades on main streets...

Thereby, creating conditions for people and tourists to experience directly, contributing to spreading the unique beauty of Tuong to the wider community.

With creative and decisive steps, Da Nang is pioneering in reviving traditional art with a contemporary breath. Tuong Xoi Pho is not only a performance, but has become a symbol of effective connection between the past and the present, between art and the public.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/tuong-xuong-pho-155240.html