Central Da Nang city has found a new way to make “tuong” (classicaldramas) more accessible to the public: performing it on streets.

Tuong excerpts are being performed along the eastern bank of the HanRiver, a popular destination for both city dwellers and tourists.

The performances also include make up demonstrations, drawing paper masks and putting on tuong costumes.

This pilot programme, organised every Sunday evening through thisSeptember, is intended to popularise and uphold the art, recentlyrecognised as part of the national intangible cultural heritage.

Tran Ngoc Tuan, Director of Da Nang’s Nguyen Hien Dinh “tuong”Theatre, said at first, passers-by may stop to watch tuong performancesfor just a few minutes out of curiosity, but their interest graduallydevelops.

Tuong performances need to be combinedwith other street activities such as night markets and food selling tooptimise the efficiency of the programme, he noted, believing it theright way to improve night-time entertainment activities, ultimatelyimproving local spiritual lives and attracting tourists.

The Vietnamese classical drama is said to date back hundreds of years.Along with other traditional performing arts like cheo (traditionalopera) in the north and cai luong in the south, tuong is a vitalcomponent of the Vietnamese spirit and character.

Tuong developed from a folk art into a royal art. Its themes includeloyalty to the monarch and patriotic duty – which define the play'sstructure, features, language, music, colour, struggles and thepersonalities of the characters.

Performances consist of highly stylised singing, dancing and music that are filled with symbolism.-VNA