Vietnamese Cheo or Popular Opera Video

The Opera of Cheo is a dramatic genre with deep popular roots. Traditionally, cheo was composed orally by anonymous authors. Today's playwrights compose cheo operas along traditional lines. The characters in the plays sing time-tested popular melodies with words suited to modern circumstances. At present Cheo opera is an integral part of Vietnamese theatre and is well liked by people in both the country and in towns, and by foreign spectators as well.
The buffoon is a common character in Cheo opera, in which there is often a blend of the tragic and the comic. He speaks the language of the people and shoots shafts of satire at evil-doers, such as ignorant witchdoctors, greedy landlords, or arrogant mandarins. He may wear a short coat, the garment of the commoner or a long robe, an article of clothing favoured by members of the upper classes in the old society. A couple of buffoons may appear on stage, including the master in a flowing gown and his servant in a short coat and carrying a stick, each speaking the language and behaving the ways of his class. The buffoon might make his entry right at the beginning of a play, carrying a torch or a megaphone and provoking wild laughter from the audience.
The great Vietnamese actors in the roles of buffoons are such artistes as Hai Sinh, Tu Lien, Manh Tuan, Ly Mam. A new one is Xuan Hinh, a native of a locality in Bac Ninh famous for its quan ho singers. Xuan Hinh graduated with honours from the Drama and Cinema School in 1989. The scenes in which he appears have drawn applause from cheo enthusiasts. His acting is both impromptu in the ways of the traditional school, and highly sophisticated along the lines of modern drama. He is particularly successful in the role of Harelip, a country bumpkin, and the Soothsayer, a fraud entangled with his own contradictory statements.

Cheo opera is now undergoing a very strong revival. It is particularly relished by our foreign friends and by overseas Vietnamese visiting their mother land country.